Brazil plans major Amazon rainforest survey
A photo released by Brazil’s environment ministry shows a deforested area in the rain forest in the southern Para state.
The Brazilian government announced it plans to take on a massive four year project to inventory the trees of the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest.
in 2009, the government pledged to reduce deforestation there by 80 percent by the year 2020, the BBC said.
Just last year alone some 1,797 square miles of Amazon was lost to deforestation.
Forestry Minister Antonio Carlos Hummel said the project will collect information on soil, tree species and the region's biodiversity.
We are going to come to know the rainforest from within," Hummel said.
The project is notable since Brazil's last comprehensive survey was over 30 years ago, the BBC reported.
The Associated Press said the $33 million project would also look at animals and people currently living there.
Environment Minister Isabella Teixeira signed the agreement on Friday, AP confirmed.