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The deforestation of the Amazon is a major problem in Brazil. "Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of forest (an area larger than Greece)and since 1970, 232,000 square miles of Amazon rain forest have been destroyed" (Rhett A Butler). In tropical countries the deforestation can be result from cultivators, in Brazil only about one-third of recent deforestation can be linked to cultivators. A large portion of deforestation can be blamed on land clearing for pastureland by commercial and speculative interests, government policies, World Bank projects , and commercial exploitation of forest resources. Every week will be an update of the current situation of the Amazon along with facts and pictures about issues that go on there, such as, endangered species, crime, violence, and slavery.
Photo provided by http://travel.mongabay.com/brazil/images/brasil_085.html

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35640.htm