Brazil to get monetary support to protect forests

Norway promised to help Brazil to protect its tropical forests and  to send 130 million kroner (US$24 million, Ђ16.9 million). The pledged aid is a part of a program to stop global warming.

Photo: Brazil to get monetary support to protect forests

Norwegian Environment and Development Aid Minister Erik Solheim announced the three-year aid package during a meeting in Oslo with Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva in Oslo.

He said deforestation of tropical forests is global climate problem, accounting for about 20 percent of the world's emissions of climate damaging carbon dioxide.

"Clearing and burning of tropical forests is an important cause of the greenhouse affect, much like the burning of oil products," Solheim said. He said stopping deforestation will be a critical issue at an environmental summit in December on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Most of Brazil's climate-damaging emissions come from deforestation, and Solheim said the Brazilian government has started an ambitious program to protect the forests that Norway wants to support.

Solheim said the aid would be channeled through the United Nations Development Fund and The Rainforest Foundation.