This is CBS, high on the world, New World Report with Professor Evan Ellis of the U.S. Army

War College, the meeting of eight nations in Bellam, Brazil to discuss what is to be

done about the Amazon, Ecuador, Kiana, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname,

and the conversation turns on people, but also on deforestation and gold mining.

First deforestation, Professor environmentalist, understanding fire season is always threatening,

warn that this is going to be a bad burning season and a, a despite a drop in deforestation

Jose Roder's report.

The combination of a dry season and bad actors deforestation, to my understanding, the

area is so vast and there's so many different governancees.

You've been there, I've only known this theoretically, is it too vast for a police force?

Well, you certainly are correct when you have the vastness, you know, depending on what

you count, the Brazilian Amazon and the Amazon more broadly is estimated at about 6.7 million

square kilometers, which puts it on par with the size of the entire continental United States.

So it is an enormous, enormous area.

And in that, these are countries that traditionally have limited capabilities with respect to their

resources.

Oftentimes, these areas are difficult to cover, especially, you know, with police military

forces that have, you know, scant resources, there are not necessarily effective roadways

or border towns there, although the Brazilian's and others are trying to improve that.

One of the previous problems is you have a combination of economic incentives and so,

you know, the desire to, you know, basically clear land for agricultural purposes, especially

in Brazil, is the soy frontier has continued to expand.

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