By putting more rainforest land under its umbrella this year, Brazil’s Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) program will reach its target of safeguarding 60 million hectares (231,700 sq miles) of rainforest, or 14% of the Brazilian Amazon, three years ahead of schedule, the country’s Environment Ministry has announced. ARPA was set up in 2002 by Brazil’s government with the help of donors including the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility, the Inter-American Development Bank, the German and Norwegian governments, the environmental organization WWF and private philanthropists. Targeting the Brazilian Amazon, its aims are to establish new protected areas, improve management of existing parks, open new sustainable-use reserves in which environmentally compatible economic activity is permitted and create a trust fund to ensure long-term... [Log in to read more]
