Brazil fines ranchers $50M for logging

Published: June 5, 2008 at 8:48 PM

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.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Watercooler Stories
Jockstrip: The world as we know it.
Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
Empty Nest: If it's Tuesday it's NoHo
Fed presidents says zero interest needed
NHL: San Jose 4, Nashville 3
fark
Darth Vader ends his tenure as a Dark Lord of the Sith and finds new work as a cathedral gargoyle....
Japanese government imposes waistline standard in attempt to avoid American-style epidemic of obesity:...
Jane Fonda says her sex life at 71 is better than ever, provided you don't get impaled by her metal...
Faced with a high school student wanting to bring her girlfriend to the prom, the principal does...
Liquor store owner charged with being unable to recite her ABCs, or something. The Sheriff even...
Photoshop this carnival carriage