Brazil has cleared 30% of its forests for 500 years
Friday 11 April 2008
Brazil has cleared 2.5 million square kilometers (nearly five times that of France) of its original vegetation, or 30% of its forests, according to a study by the Ministry of Environment of Brazil. Most disappeared during the last 500 years.
"This study paints a fairly current situation of Brazilian ecosystems," said Braulio Dias, Director of the National Biodiversity Brazilian Ministry of Environment and responsible for the study, the daily "O Globo". Based on satellite imagery and field research, it will serve as a political tool for environmental preservation, he said.
The Amazon, the Atlantic Forest (rainforest the world's richest in terms of biodiversity), the Cerrado (savanna), the Caatinga (forest spiny adapted to aridity), the Pantanal (the largest area wet planet) and Pampas (plains) are the major biomes of Brazil.
Forest on the Atlantic coast of Brazil is the region that was most devastated since the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500: 751,000 square kilometers deforested. The Amazon, the largest ecozone in the country, came back with 527,000 km ². The Pantanal is the best preserved - only - 17,000 km ² devastated in a little over 500 years.
Source : Matin Online