Penalties for Amazon deforestation reduced

Brazil’s Supreme Court has upheld major changes to laws protecting the Amazon rainforest, reducing penalties for past illegal deforestation.

Congress agreed to revisions in the law in 2012, including an amnesty for illegal deforestation on “small properties” prior to 2008 and reduced restoration requirements in others. The changes reduced deforested land that must be restored under previous rules by an area nearly the size of Italy.