Figures released by the Environment Ministry show that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon is continuing to fall.

According to initial calculations based on satellite images from the National Space Research Institute, there was 11% less deforestation from mid-2005 to mid-2006 than over the previous twelve months, while the 2004-05 total was itself 32% lower than the figure for 2003-04.

The reduction of more than 40% between 2004 and 2006 represents a return to a rate of deforestation similar to the average registered during the second half of the 1990s.

The positive results are a reflection of government initiatives such as the Plan of Action for the Control and Prevention of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon, launched in March 2004.

Source: Embassy of Brazil in London