Brazil’s new Environment Minister Carlos Minc is warning the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest may be worsening. Minc said the Brazilian government has to rethink its model of economic development as rising global commodity prices fuel more clearing of land for farms.

Carlos Minc: “Our war isn’t simply against the figures of each month. The present economic development model impoverishes the people and destroys the forest. We want another model, where the forest is preserved as an important genetics bank and the people have a better life condition, with more jobs, payments and sewage systems.”