Brazil cracks down on illegal loggers in Amazon

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil cracks down on illegal loggers in Amazon
Wed Apr 8, 2009 12:21pm ED
By Raymond Colitt

BELEM, Brazil (Reuters) - Environmental police in Brazil seized the equivalent of 400 truckloads of wood in a major raid on illegal loggers, the government said on Wednesday, the latest effort to curb destruction of the Amazon rain forest.

During the surprise raid in Nova Esperanca do Piria, 120 miles east of Belem city, police shut down 13 logging companies and sawmills, and seized tractors, guns, and ammunition, Environment Minister Carlos Minc said during a visit to the remote jungle site. The owners fled the area.

The crackdown is the latest in a series of measures by the government to meet a new target of reducing destruction of the Amazon forest by 50 percent during the next decade.

"We are determined to slash deforestation -- this operation is a warning to illegal loggers," Minc told Reuters.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE53755P20090408?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews

[flor de jasmim]

1. GOOD! May there be 500 more!