Brazil reports increased destruction of rainforests

By

Brazils ministry of environment released data this week showing that in the twelve months that ended in August, 2004, about 26,130 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest disappeared. Almost half of the new deforestation took place in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, an important agricultural region in the western part of the country, and much of the blame for it was put on the states governor by critics. The governor, who took office in 2002, is one of the biggest soybean producers in the world. The deforested area, determined by studying satellite photos of the region, represents a 6 percent increase in deforestation over the previous year. It was the second-highest amount of deforestation since data began being collected in 1988, and was much higher than expected. Experts say that deforestation in the Amazon region is mainly the result of economic growth, expanding agriculture, and the new roads that those activities bring. Much deforestation, however, is not directly caused by agriculture, but results from expanding agriculture pushing cattle farming and small-scale farming farther out into the forest.