Brazilian Forestry Ministry plans major rainforest survey

The Forestry Ministry in Brazil has announced that it is to carry out a detailed survey of the Amazon rainforest.

The ministry has said that the survey will see data relating to soils, biodiversity and tree species present in the rainforest being collected.

The inventory - will cost in the region of $33 million - is expected to take between three and four years to complete, reported the BBC.

Brazilian Forestry Minister, Antonio Carlos Hummel, told the publication, “We are going to come to know the rainforest from within.”

The last comprehensive survey of the world's largest rainforest was carried out more than 30 years ago, making this project particularly notable. In 2009, the Brazilian government pledged to lower deforestation in the rainforest by an impressive 80 percent by 2020, and this survey will help them to achieve their goals.

Izabella Teixeira, Environment Minister, said, “In international debates about climate change, for example, we will know how much forest we have and what state it is in [...], we'll discover species, and gain knowledge about species becoming extinct, as well as information about the distribution of the forest and its potential economic use.”