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Brazil creates three new protected areas in Amazon rainforest

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva decreed three new protected areas in the Amazon basin on Wednesday, placing 1.84 million hectares (4.55 million acres) of rainforest off-limits for development.

Lula signed decrees creating the 880,000 hectare (2.2 million acre) Campos Amazônicos National Park and two extractive reserves at a ceremony in Brasília, the environment ministry said in a statement. Extractive reserves are areas where local communities can exploit the rainforest in a sustainable manner, harvesting its fruits, nuts and rubber without logging.

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