Deforestation rates in Brazil decrease

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 24, Issue 3.

Brazil recently announced its lowest rate of deforestation since recordings began roughly 25 years ago, and the rainforest nations of Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) say they, too, have slowed deforestation rates recently. All three countries achieved their results with support from Norway – which is funding Brazil and Indonesia to the tune of $1 billion each and is scaling up support for deforestation efforts in the DRC. Such bilateral funding efforts are targeted both at large-scale conservation and REDD pilot projects, and they have so far proven to be the most effective international mechanisms for combating deforestation, according to preliminary findings from the REDD+ Expenditures Tracking Project. All three countries hope that REDD can bring private-sector funding into the equation.