Britain spends £10m to fight deforestation in Brazil

Britain is spending £10m to tackle deforestation in Brazil in an effort to protect wildlife and reduce carbon emissions.

The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, said the money would help farmers in Cerrado, central Brazil, restore natural habitats, reduce forest fires and ease the pressure for more deforestation to provide land for agriculture.

Speaking at the International Forest Day conference in Durban, South Africa, where the latest round of UN climate talks are being held, Spelman said: "The Cerrado is rich in biodiversity and yet, alarmingly, it has almost halved in size, because of wildfires and the demand for agricultural products.

"If we're going to stop the loss of biodiversity, we need to protect our forests, which house the majority of the world's wildlife. We won't succeed in tackling climate change unless we deal with deforestation."

Click on the headline to read the whole story from the BBC.