Rain forest conservationIn 1998, Brazil agreed to set aside about 25 million ha (62 million ac) of the Amazon rain forest for conservation. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said his country, in cooperation with the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund, would protect 10% of its forests by the year 2000. The cost of the project, which would set aside an area the size of Britain, is estimated at between $84 million and $156 million, much of which will come from the World Bank. A similar announcement followed from the government of the neighbouring country of Suriname (17 Jun 1998) that it would set aside about 12% of the country's area to create the huge Central Suriname Wilderness Nature Reserve in order to conserve the Amazon rain forest.* |
