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Conserving the rainforest

June 5, 2012

Parts of Brazil's precious and endangered rainforest are being placed under special protection.

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BRA, 2008: Luftaufnahme des Amazonasregenwaldes. [en] Aerial view of Amazon rainforest. | BRA, 2008: Aerial view of Amazon rainforest. Schlagworte 121990, Altarm, Amazon, Amazonas, Dschungel, Fluesse, Fluss, Landschaft, Luftaufnahme, Luftbild, Natur, Querformat, Regenwald, South America, Suedamerika, Wald, Wasser, forest, horizontal, jungle, landscape, nature, oxbow, rainforest, river, scenery, tropical, tropisch, water
Image: picture alliance/WILDLIFE

Project goal: to protect the Amazon rainforest
Project size: 600,000 square kilometers (231,660 square miles) of forest by 2016
Investment: around 31 million euros ($38 million) by the German ministry for economic cooperation and development and the German environment ministry

The Amazonian rainforest, known as the "world's lung," is hurtling towards destruction. Soya farms, infrastructure projects and new settlements are encroaching on the forest. Almost half of Brazil's greenhouse gases can be traced back to deforestation. That's why there are plans to designate large parts of the rain forest as specially protected zones. The initiative comes from the residents themselves, who have commited to protecting the "Verde para Sempre" region.

A film by Christian Jaburg

The Amazon: Protecting the Rain Forests