New figures released by the Brazilian government show that the Amazon rain forest is being destroyed at near record levels.
The country’s environment ministry said that 10,000 square miles of forest were cut down in the 12 months up to August last year.
The figure is the second highest on record.
Environmentalists fear that further destruction is inevitable because of a farming boom in the region.
The Amazon tropical forest is larger than the US continent, and contains up to 30% of the globe’s animal and plant species. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that over 17% of the forest has been destroyed.
