Rio, 8/26/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, and the president of the Statistical Bureau (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) (IBGE), Eduardo Pereira Nunes, have signed a technical cooperation agreement which will permit the implantation of an information system on the environment so as to support sustainable development throughout Brazil.

The agreement creates specific contracts for various projects, such as a Biomass Map, Sustainable Development Indicators and Ecological - Economic Zoning for the Amazon region. The result is to be improved standards of living for 20 million inhabitants in the Amazon region, and the identification of investment opportunities there. It will also permit the government to follow migration patterns, population growth and farming in the region.(AB)