Norway to Reconsider Its Aid to Amazon Rainforest

Oil-rich Norway, which in many parts of the world emerged as the champion of wildlife preservation, is threatening to cut its support of the Amazon rainforest amid Brazil's defiant underperformance and wide-spreading deforestation.


Norwegian Climate and Environment Minister Vidar Helgesen is now in Brazil and the atmosphere of his visit is far from relaxed, for it's not a courtesy visit that brought him to Rio, but rather bad news.

Over the past year, deforestation of the Amazon basin has increased dramatically, by around 30 percent. Much of the precious rainforest in Brazil is felled and burned down to make room for soya plantations and cattle ranching. In the course of the past decade, Norway has been a generous contributor to Brazilian conservation efforts, and it is expecting results for its pretty penny.

"This is not a trend that should be allowed to continue, because Brazil's rainforests are the world's largest and are of great significance for the world's climate," Vidar Helgesen told Norwegian national broadcaster NRK commenting his visit to BNDES, the Brazilian bank that manages the Norwegian-sponsored Amazon Fund........http://sptnkne.ws/dSur
 [sputniknews.com]
22/3/17