Brazil announces massive Amazon rainforest reserve

Green Clippings
Date: Tue 05 December 2006

Brazil has announced the protection of 37 million acres of Amazon rainforest, creating what will be the largest rainforest reserve in the world. The initiative resulted from a joint effort led by the Par� State Government, in collaboration with the Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (IMAZON) and Conservation International, which identified the region�s highest-priority conservation targets.The new protected areas complete the Brazilian portion of the Guayana Shield corridor of Amazon rainforest stretching from neighbouring Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana into Brazil.The Guayana Shield region is a global conservation priority, containing more than 25 percent of Earth�s humid tropical forests.Almost 90 percent of the Guayana Shield forest is untouched, and the region contains the most significant freshwater reserves in the American tropics, with almost 20 percent of the world�s water running through it.According to Conservation International's Enrico Bernard, two of the areas alone could be home to as many as 54 percent of all animal and plant species found in Amazonia.Protection of the rainforest is also considered vital in order to limit the release of carbon dioxide, which would otherwise increase global warming.