Roberta Lopes
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - On Wednesday (21) president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed decrees creating three more conservation units (UCs) in the Amazon. The UCs are the Amazon Grasslands National Park, with approximately 880 thousand hectares in southwest Amazonas and the northeast tip of Rondônia, and the Rio Unini and Arapixi extractive reserves (Resex), with 830 thousand and 133 thousand hectares, respectively, both in the state of Amazonas.

At the ceremony the minister of Environment, Marina Silva, said that the new conservation units will serve as a protective barrier against the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the decrees add 1.84 million hectares to the protected area in the Amazon. The conservation units created by the current Administration incorporate a total of 19.3 million hectares.

Translation: David Silberstein