On May 21, the Brazilian government, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and partners announced the creation of a $215 million fund to ensure long-term protection of the world's largest network of protected areas — 150 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.
It's not often as conservationists that we get to celebrate such a big win.
I've been working in the Amazon for 25 years — originally studying the ecology and behavior of spider monkeys — but not until today have I been able to claim such a huge victory for a place I care so much about.
It's a headline-making conservation story and truly deserving of international attention: 150 million protected acres, the largest tropical forest conservation project in the world, global ecological impact.
Thanks to an innovative long-term financing model, 150 million acres will be protected permanently, which amounts to fifteen percent of the Brazilian Amazon. That's equivalent to three times the size of all U.S. national parks combined.
Continue reading --- http://www.livescience.com/45865-amazon-swath-preserved-in-huge-partnership.html
