Brazil creates new protected areas in Amazon

[Fountain79]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16041988/

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A swath of Amazon rain forest the size of Alabama was placed under government protection Monday in a region infamous for violent conflicts among loggers, ranchers and environmentalists.

Known as the Guayana Shield, the 57,915-square-mile area contains more than 25 percent of the world’s remaining humid tropical forests and the largest remaining unpolluted fresh water reserves in the American tropics.

The protected areas will link to existing reserves to form a vast preservation corridor eventually stretching into neighboring Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

This is good news.

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Yeah but is it matched with an equal sized area that can be logged, etc.?

[Teaser]

6. probably, but we'll never see a better deal from Brazil.

and really, why should they give an inch to us northern environmentalists who are still living off the fat from our slaughter of the old growth forests that once were here.

[Vidar]

2. Good for Brazil.

[Duer 157099]

3. You know you (and I mean me) spend too much time online when

you (me) read that headline and wonder why Amazon (.com) needs a protected (https?) area for Brazilians.

::sigh::

I need to get out more

[MasonJar]

4. That is the most incredibly wonderful news! 25% of the world's

rainforests is big. Thank you, Brazil, from the whole world.

[tom_paine]

5. Nice to see some good news happening somewhere

n/t

[Judi Lynn]

7. This is especially poignant, since the nun Dorothy Stang, who lived trying to protect

the people who were being threatened by ranch owners and timber companies trying to force them out of the rain forest also died trying to protect them, and the rain forest, at the hands of hired killers.

Nun killed in Brazil an unflinching advocate
Peasants' defender buried in Amazon
Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 16, 2005



An American nun who was gunned down in the Brazilian jungle Saturday is being remembered by family members and friends around Northern California for her commitment to social justice and environmental protection.

In the Bay Area and across the globe, the life and death of Sister Dorothy Stang are being compared to legendary Amazonian rubber-tapper-turned- environmentalist Chico Mendes, who was slain for his activism in 1988.

Stang, 74, was laid to rest Tuesday in the frontier town of Anapu, Brazil, her adopted home, three days after she was ambushed en route to a community meeting in a remote region known for land battles and lawlessness.

"They stopped her car, and she got out and they were pointing guns at her, " said Sister Joan Krimm, a lifelong friend. "So she took out her Bible and said, 'This is my weapon,' and started reading to them."

The gunmen fired at least six bullets into her body at close range, according to Brazilian reports.
(snip/...)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/16/MNGOLBBO611.DTL


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope the tide will be reversed, and the earth given a chance to heal itself.

[tex-wyo-dem]

8. This is very good news! Thank you, Brazil!

Hopefully they will be able to effectively police that large of an area to keep the loggers and poachers at bay.

[The Anti-Neo Con]

9. Yes, good news.

If the Amazon dies, then the whole Earth starts to die along with it, we have to save it.

[goforit]

10. Hats off to Brazil. We all need to pitch in.

[proud patriot]

11. Yay !

:applause: