Brazil scraps plan for mining in huge Amazon reserve

The Brazilian government has backed off a controversial proposal to authorise private companies to mine a huge Amazon reserve, following heavy domestic and international criticism.


President Michel Temer's office will issue a new decree today that "restores the conditions of the area, according to the document that instituted the reserve in 1984," the Ministry of Mines and Energy said in a statement.

Last week, environmental activist group Greenpeace said at least 14 illegal mines and eight clandestine landing strips were already being used by miners in the Denmark-sized reserve known as Renca in the eastern Amazon.

Greenpeace said this showed the risks faced by Renca even without Mr Temer's earlier proposal for ending a ban on large-scale foreign mining in the mineral-rich region.
 [rte.ie]
 26/9/17