A project to more than triple the amount of protected land in the Brazilian Amazon got underway last month after receiving US$73.5 million in funds from the German and Brazilian governments, the World Bank Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Currently just 3%, or 30 million acres (12 million hectares), of the Brazilian Amazon has protected status. The new initiative, called the Amazon Region Protected Areas project (Arpa), marks an ambitious effort to increase that share to 10%, or 100 million acres (40 million hectares), by 2012. The initial $73.5 million in funding will be used to demarcate land, build such facilities as visitor centers and perform other start-up tasks, says Rosa Lemos de Sá, conservation director... [Log in to read more]