Brazil minister: Amazon deforestation 'drops by 16%'

Amazon deforestation is down by 16% in the year to July 2017 compared to the previous 12 months, the Brazilian government says. While deforestation diminished by 55% in Tocantins state and by 43% in Roraima, it rose by a massive 86% in Amapa, according to the satellite data gathered by the Programme for the Estimation of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. "We will only end deforestation when we value the standing forest." Paulo Barreto, a senior researcher for non-profit Amazon institute Imazon, told Reuters news agency that Brazil's economic recession and a drop in livestock prices were probably the major causes of the decline. Ranchers clearing forest for cattle are major contributors to deforestation.

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