deforestation

Indonesian deforestation with fires in the distance, photo by Billy via flickr

Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, and Brazil , one of the most successful places where ethanol has been produced from sugarcane, have agreed to cooperate on sharing biofuel production knowledge.

Quoted at ENN, Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono indicated that Indonesia could learn from the research and dev...

Photo of land cleared for cattle in the Amazon by Leonardo F. Freitas

A new report from the Rights and Resources Initiative starkly quantifies the amount of additional land which will have to be put under cultivation to satisfy the demands of a growing world population for food and biofuels.

Land equivalent to 12 Germanys will have to go under the plow
Unless agricultural productivity of land rise sharply—the exact opposite of trends since the Green Revolution and the subsequent introduction of GM crops—an additional 515 million hecta...

(Picture: the Brazilian Senate in session. Credit: Agencia Senado Brazil.) The Brazilian Senate approved last week a modification to the law that establishes the amount of land the government can concede for rural use in the Legal Amazon without the need for a tender process. The previous limit was 500 hectares and now it's gone up to 15 fiscal modules: each municipality establishes the extension of the modules, and in some places they reach 100 hectares, which sets the maximum to 1500 hectares.

(Picture: Getty Images) The Brazilian congress is treating a law project that establishes the need for permissions to enter the Amazon jungle. The permissions would be extended by the Defense Ministry to NGOs, foreigners and workers, and would be intended to prevent the illegal use of resources in the area.

The law project is supposed to be treated in the Congress until July. If it's approved, those who break it and enter the jungle without legal authorization could face bills that could go from five to 100 thousand USD.

::Via BBC Mundo (in Spanish)
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Never did I think I’d find myself nestled in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, sitting cross-legged in a jungle bungalow with local hero—Dr. Eugenio Netto. Eugenio is a medical doctor and the founder of Projeto Saude e Alegria, or, The Health and Happiness Project, a Brazilian NGO that has been working to restore health and social equality for at-risk indigenous Amazonian communities since 1987.

As we sip Capirhinas under the soft glow of kerosene lamps, it’s easy to let my thoughts drift and lead me to believe I’m on a glamorous Amazonian expedition. But all it takes is a firm and passionate reminder ...

Image: Dave BergeronIt’s that time of year again in Montréal when even the deepest and coldest snow drifts yield to the warm, melting power of the sun: the cyclists are out in full force, outdoor cafés make a comeback and people start smiling at each other on the street again. It’s also the time when the butterflies go free at the Montréal Botanical Garden during the 11th annual edition of the Butterflies Go Free (Papillons en liberté) event, which began in February 21 and will run until April 27th, this year f...