The Rio state government will build concrete walls around some of the city's biggest slums in an attempt to halt deforestation of the surrounding jungle, officials said yesterday.
Seven miles of walls, reaching a height of three metres (10ft) will be built around sections of at least 11 slums this year, Icaro Moreno, the president of the state's public works department, said. The project will cost $17m (£12m).
Standing in the Dona Marta slum, in the shadow of Rio's famous Christ statue, Moreno pointed out a section of the first wall under construction. Work began a few weeks ago. "Each year that passes, we're losing more of the Atlantic rainforest," he said. "Now we're setting limits on where these communities can expand."
In December, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, which monitors forest destruction, reported that, between 2005 and 2008, the deforestation of Rio's urban rainforest doubled compared with the previous three years. About 205 hectares (506 acres) were destroyed in that time, with officials blaming most of the destruction on the expansion of slums as more newcomers arrived from Brazil's interior.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/01/rio-slums-walls-deforestation