The World - News from Oct. 13, 1988

Brazil said it will act to protect the Amazon region after an international outcry over the rapid ecological destruction of the region. President Jose Sarney said the government is restricting official subsidies for agriculture in the region, where farmers have started fires on such a massive scale that scientists are worried about the effects on global climate. Sarney, in his first televised speech devoted to the environment, also announced a ban on the export of logs and said all future agricultural and industrial projects will be subject to rigorous controls. “Our forests, our rivers, our fauna and flora are part of the national Brazilian patrimony, a heritage which we cannot allow to disintegrate,” he said.