Brazil Makes Major Progress on Amazon Deforestation

GlobeTracker| Brazil is arriving in Copenhagen riding the wave of a new article in the Dec. 4 issue of Science outlining how the combined efforts of government commitments and market forces can save forests and reduce CO2 emissions.

In Brazil 80 percent of the forest is still standing, according to Daniel Nepstad, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center and the study’s lead author.

Brazil has lowered deforestation rates 64 percent since 2005. This remarkable achievement was possible through a government crack-down on illegal activities in the region. It was helped by a retraction of the cattle and soybean industries, and a growing effort to exclude deforesters from the beef and soy markets. The article describes how Brazil could build upon this progress to end forest clearing by the year 2020, and the additional funding that will be required to reach this goal. via Science Daily

Roughly the size of America without Alaska and Hawaii, the Amazon River Basin is home to the world’s largest rainforest, most of it in Brazil, and is the largest freshwater source on Earth. A