Amazon deforestation rate down, still high

Brazilian authorities announced that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon dropped nearly 25 percent between 2005 and 2006. However, this number cannot be taken separately from the data for the other years of Brazilian president Lula's administration. According WWF-Brazil - part of the World Wide Fund for Nature network -, nearly 85,000 square kilometers were deforested in the Amazon between 2002 and 2006, the first term of Lula's mandate, a record when compared to previous administrations.

The CEO for WWF-Brazil, Denise Hamu, admits that the decline in the deforestation rate from 2005 to 2006 is positive, but complains that the country still lacks a longer-term project for the Amazon to include protection and development at the same time.

In 2007, the number of forest fires in the Amazon has already increased 39 percent in comparison to the same timeframe last year. To make matters worse, no new conservation unit was created by the Federal Government this year, although several are ready and need only a signature to be officially implemented.