Brazil to Launch Census of Trees in Amazon

Brazil has made great strides in recent years fighting illegal logging, and the country monitors its forests using the latest in satellite technology. But now it also plans to examine the forest from within, taking a detailed four-year census of the trees in the Amazon to improve its understanding of deforestation, climate change and conservation, according to an article in The Guardian.

The census will be the most detailed study in 40 years, and Brazil's environment minister said it "will allow us to have a broad panorama of the quality and the conditions in the forest cover."

The environment minister said the satellite monitoring has slowed deforestation and pushed Brazil halfway to its Copenhagen commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent by 2020, but this census will reveal information about biodiversity and more, reported The Guardian.

"We are going to come to know the rainforest from within," said Forestry Minister Antonio Carlos Hummel.