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Correspondence

Nature 409, 131 (11 January 2001) | doi:10.1038/35051794

Open Innovation Challenges

Sensitive development could protect Amazonia instead of destroying it

Georgia Carvalho1,2, Ana Cristina Barros2, Paulo Moutinho1 & Daniel Nepstad1,2

  1. Woods Hole Research Center, PO Box 296, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543-0296 , USA
  2. Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia, Trav. Eneas Pinheiro 1424, Belém, Pará 66087-430, Brazil

After 40 years of government-induced settlement of the Brazilian Amazon, the core of this region has experienced surprisingly little deforestation. The agriculture and ranching that cause deforestation depend upon reliable roads, which are concentrated along the eastern and southern flanks of Amazonia (Fig. 1