Priscila Rangel
Reporter Voz do Brasil

Brasília – Deforestation activities in the Amazon rainforest dropped 90% in the month of June, compared with the June 2004. In hectares, the area destroyed in June 2004 was 10,000 hectares, compared to 1,000 in June 2005. According to Tasso Rezende de Azevedo, who deals with forests at the Ministry of Environment, that is good news because June is always a month of high levels of deforestation.

Azevedo adds that another reason for the drop in deforestation activities was a large police operation in June that closed down illegal logging in the state of Mato Grosso. The police crackdown was part of the National Plan for Amazon Region Deforestation Prevention and Combat which was set up in March.

Translator: Allen Bennett