Brazil says Amazon deforestation rose 28% in a year

Brazil says the rate of deforestation in the Amazon increased by 28% between August 2012 and last July, after years of decline. The government is working to reverse this "crime", Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said. Activists have blamed the increase in destruction on a controversial reform to Brazil's forest protection law. Last year Brazil reported the lowest rate of deforestation in the Amazon since monitoring began. The provisional statistics from August 2012 to last July suggest that the area suffering deforestation was 5,843 sq km (2,255 sq miles), compared to 4,571 sq km (1,765 sq miles) in the previous 12 months. The 28% rise interrupts a period of declining deforestation which began in 2009. However, it still remains the second lowest annual figure for forest loss in absolute terms. The worst year on record was 2004, when 27,000 sq km of forest was destroyed. Monthly data from several scientific institutions had suggested the deforestation rate might be on the rise.

Miners' attack on Yanomami Amazon tribe 'kills dozens'

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The Yanomami have previously complained of attacks by illegal miners
 

An attack by gold miners on a group

of Yanomami tribespeople in Venezuela has left up to 80 people dead, according

to campaign groups.

The attack is reported to have taken place last month in the remote

Irotatheri community, close to the border with Brazil.

The miners allegedly set fire to a communal house, with witnesses reporting

finding burnt bodies.

The Yanomami have previously complained of miners encroaching on their

lands.

Due to the community's remote location, it took those who discovered the

bodies days to walk to the nearest settlement to report the incident, according

to campaign group Survival International.

So far three survivors have been accounted for, according to Yanomami

organisations.

A statement from a network of Yanomami groups called on Venezuelan

authorities to investigate the incident and to co-operate with Brazil to

About 360 of the lagely monadic tribe have had some contact with the outside world, and about 100 remain uncontacted.

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The Awa are being encroached upon from all sides by loggers, who are clear-cutting and burning the forest that both the Awa and the animals they eat call home. Here, one of the Awa territories is outlined in white, with logging operations throughout the region clearly visible.

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The Awa are hunter-gatherers, and travel in extended family groups of about 30. Families go on gathering expeditions, and extended hunts can last for weeks on end. However, the comparatively small groups are vulnerable to attacks by gunmen hired by loggers and ranchers.