On June 25th, INPE made available data which shows an increase of approximately forty percent of deforested areas between 2001 and 2002. Figures from the Environment Ministry released last Wednesday support this data, showing that deforestation in the Amazon increased by 9,840 square miles last year, from 1,010 square miles in 2001. Environment Minister, Marina Silva, is contemplating real-time monitoring of deforestation and other serious actions to curb the current rate of forest loss. The Amazon jungle, an area of continuous forest that is bigger than Western Europe, is home to nearly thirty percent of the earth’s animal and plant species, as well as many indigenous tribes.
