International concerns expressed after Brazil's environment minister quit this week show that some groups are fronts for exploiting the Amazon's resources, the country's justice minister said on Thursday. "There are parts of the international community that defend the Amazon as if it was not Brazilian but a territory of humanity," Tarso Genro told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. "This is a front for economic interests in the Amazon as a global reserve for big multinationals and for other countries to have control over Brazil's territory," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Brazil on Wednesday to adopt tougher environmental standards in producing biofuels but said rich nations needed to pay up to help protect rain forests and their biodiversity. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of ethanol, which it derives from sugar cane. Critics say increased production is pushing cattle ranchers and farmers deeper into the Amazon and accelerating the destruction of the world's largest rain forest.

The Surui people who live inside the Amazon rain forest think they have a new saviour. They call it "Ragogmakan'. But we know Surui's benefactor as Google. Almir Narayamoga, the tribe's

Cleaner air due to reduced coal burning could help destroy the Amazon this century, according to a finding published on Wednesday that highlights the complex challenges of global climate change. The study in the journal Nature identified a link between reduced sulphur dioxide emissions from coal burning and increased sea surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic that boosts the drought risk in the Amazon rainforest. With the rainforest already threatened by development, higher global temperatures could tip the balance, they said.

Vast areas of idle land in Brazil could be part of the solution to the world food crisis but there is a danger that surging prices will lead to more burning of the Amazon rain forest. Experts say deforestation in the Amazon closely tracks moves on global food markets as farmers along Brazil's vast agricultural frontier react to the prospect of greater profits by cutting trees and burning the land to make way for pasture or crops.

Responsible travel is not as recent a concept as some might think. Eco-tourism first emerged in the 1970s in response to such developments as the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and poaching in Africa. From those origins of low impact, conservation-driven responsible holidaymaking, a sizeable industry has been generated that touches every type of traveller.