Amazon Deforestation In 2003 2X Average For 1990s - 9,100 Square Miles

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- "Ranchers, soybean farmers and loggers burned and cut down a near-record area of the Amazon rainforest last year, but the government announced Wednesday that it had managed to slow the rate of destruction.

Satellite photos and data showed that 9,170 square miles (23,750 square kilometers) of rainforest was cut down in the 12 months ending in August 2003, about twice the annual rate of the 1990s. The destruction is slightly higher than in the same period the year before, according to newly revised figures. But the government saw the results as a victory.

"We don't want to be overconfident, but we managed to break the rhythm of growth (in destruction) and this is highly significant," said Environment Minister Marina da Silva, who announced the figures in Brasilia, the nation's capital.

Last year, the government announced that 10,190 square miles (25,500 square kilometers) had vanished in the 2001-2002 period, but on Wednesday they said they had overestimated and the correct figure was 8,980 square miles (23,260 square kilometers)."

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