The government of the Brazilian Amazon state of Pará on Dec. 4 created seven conservation zones covering 15 million hectares. Together, they form a vast ecological corridor north of the Amazon River, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Colombian border. Also, after 14 years in the political system, Brazil's national Congress approved the Mata Atlantica Law, to preserve the remnants of the coastal forests, which cover just seven percent of their original area, and to promote their recovery.

And the Environment Ministry announced that beginning in 2007 it will conduct a national forest inventory, a “census of forests” — native and planted — to guide related policies.

“These are noteworthy advances, but the threats will persist until the idea that preserved forests are opportunities for development is consolidated,” Roberto Smeraldi, director of Friends of the Earth-Brazilian Amazon, told Tierramérica.