Deforestation in Brazil's rainforest down 23 pct

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Xinhua
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Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest fell 23 percent in the 12 months ending in July 2012 from the previous year, the Brazilian government announced Thursday. According to the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, 2,040 square km of woods were cut down from August 2011 to July 2012, meaning that almost 700 square km of woods were spared, compared to the same time frame last year.

Logging in almost all states within the Amazon rainforest area in Brazil fell with Roraima in the northern border as the only exception, where deforestation rose 218 percent in this period. The sharpest decrease, 67 percent, was registered in Maranhao state.

According to Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira, the reduction in deforestation was a direct result of the enforcement of laws against illegal logging and the improvement of monitoring systems. The minister explained that the satellite monitoring system to verify deforestation in some regions did not function well last year due to clouds.

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research will launch a new satellite, which is scheduled to be operational by January 2013. With the new equipment, monitoring is expected to improve further.
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