August was another month of relatively good news for the Amazon rainforest: The rate of deforestation has continued to decline significantly.
Earlier this week, Marina Silva, Brazil's environment minister, announced a 66.1 percent decrease in Amazon deforestation compared to last August. That amounted to a loss of about 217 square miles, according to Reuters. These figures come during a time of year when destruction of the rainforest is usually quite high, and follows a similar trend seen in July.
