Brazil Says Deforestation Figures Inaccurate, Part Of Plot To Hurt Farming

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- The agriculture ministry on Tuesday criticized foreign press reports linking agricultural development to destruction of the Amazon rain forest, claiming they are harming Brazil's agribusiness exports. A statement entitled, "Ministry contests data about Amazon deforestation," cited recent articles in The New York Times, The Economist and The Guardian that blamed cattle ranching and soybean farming for increased rain forest destruction.

"There are strong indications that many of these articles have as their basis the objective of harming the competitive image of Brazilian agribusiness in the eyes of the world," the statement read. "One inevitably suspects that these reports reflect uncomfortableness that the growth of Brazilian agribusiness is causing its international competitors."

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At the same time, according to official statistics, 23,473 square kilometers (9,169 square miles) of the Amazon rain forest, were cut down in the 12 months ending in August 2003.

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The agriculture ministry suggested that many of the recent press reports linking the country's agricultural expansion with rain forest destruction confuse the area legally considered the Amazon _ some 5 million square kilometers (1.93 million square miles) covering five Brazilian states -- with actual standing forest."

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http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/05/26/brazil.amazon.ap/