Brazil to have high resolution imagery for 86% of the Amazon by year end

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Brazil to have high resolution imagery for 86% of the Amazon by year end
mongabay.com
October 15, 2008

Brazil will have high resolution imagery for 86 percent of its Amazon territory by the end of the year, according to Reuters. The images will help the country protect the Amazon rainforest and prosecute alleged environmental crimes, including illegal logging and agricultural expansion.

"Sending people in by foot to take these pictures is costly, timely and dangerous -- these images are a potential breakthrough," Wougran Soares Galvao, Operations Director of the Amazon Protection System (Sipam) told Reuters.

"We can't be everywhere, the region is huge. So we need intelligence to focus our resources," said Marcelo de Carvalho Lopes, head of Sipam, in an interview this week.

Only 8 percent of fines for illegal logging are collected, according to Brazil's environment ministry. The high resolution images will provide evidence to enable law enforcement to more effectively prosecute illicit activities.

Brazil has the world's highest annual loss of forest cover. Much of the clearing is illegal.

Raymond Colitt. Brazil bets on technology to control Amazon. Reuters Oct 15, 2008

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