JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Germany to cut 35 million euros in funds to Brazil for Amazon preservation: newspapers

Germany to cut 35 million euros in funds to Brazil for Amazon preservation: newspapers

Monday, August 12, 2019, 11:23 GMT+7
Germany to cut 35 million euros in funds to Brazil for Amazon preservation: newspapers
An aerial view of a deforested plot of the Amazon at the Bom Futuro National Forest in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, September 3, 2015. Picture taken September 3, 2015. Photo: Reuters

SAO PAULO -- Germany decided to suspend 35 million euros ($39 million) in funds sent to Brazil to finance projects aimed at preserving the Amazon forest due to increasing deforestation, Brazilian media outlets reported on Saturday.

The move reflects “great concerns with an increasing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon,” the German embassy in Brazil told Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, adding that the cut does not affect the Amazon Fund, to which Germany is a key donor.

According to O Globo newspaper, the decision concerns only funds destined to new projects financed by the Ministry of Environment.

German diplomats could not be immediately reached for comment.

Deforestation in the Brazil’s rainforest surged 67% in the first seven months of the year, according to Brazil’s space research agency, though the government has claimed the data is unreliable and misleading.

Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain elected last year, has long been skeptical of environmental issues, and has repeatedly said the Amazon is a resource that belongs to Brazil, which Brazilians should choose how to administer.

Asked about Germany’s decision, Bolsonaro replied to journalists on Sunday: “Brazil does not need that.”

($1 = 0.8930 euros)

Reuters

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Vietnamese youngster travels back in time with clay miniatures

Each work is a scene caught by Dung and kept in his memories through his journeys across Vietnam

Latest news