Brazil fines ranchers $50M for logging

BRASILIA, Brazil, June 5 (UPI) -- The Brazilian government has hit 16 ranchers with more than $50 million in fines for illegal logging in the Amazon, officials said.

The fines were levied against ranch owners who were blamed in part for the increasing deforestation of the Amazon during the last year in northern Brazil, O Globo reported Thursday.

Government environmental officials said Brazil's rainforest is being destroyed at a higher rate this year, despite government efforts to curtail cutting down trees in the Amazon.

Satellite photos released by Brazilian environmental agencies showed that 430 square miles were destroyed in April and the depletion was accelerating.

Deforestation in Brazil had declined for three straight years, said environmental officials -- who blame illegal logging for most of the destruction in the world's largest rainforest.