Mato Grosso

Brazil police break up key Amazon deforestation gang

Anadolu Agency – Image: Deforested area of Mato Grosso, photo by Ben Tavener

SÃO PAULO — Seven people suspected of orchestrating mass logging operations in the Amazon have been arrested as part of a long-running investigation, police in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso confirmed to the Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

Police chief Maria Alice Barros Amorim, who is coordinating the operation, told AA that in all 13 arrest orders had been issued in the state, meaning six individuals are still wanted in connection with logging and other environmental crimes.

Officers from the special environment police department have also carried out searches at 18 locations as part of Operation Fluxo Verde (Green Flow) and say “huge quantities” of illegally-logged wood have been found.

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Brazil World Cup worker electrocuted at Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá

Anadolu Agency

SÃO PAULO – A worker at the Arena Pantanal World Cup stadium in Brazil has died after being electrocuted, a government official said on Thursday.

The man, named as 32-year-old Muhammad-Ali Maciel Afonso, worked for Etel Engenharia, a company enlisted to install a telecommunications network in the stadium in Cuiabá, capital of the central-western state of Mato Grosso.

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PHOTOS: Brazil’s glorious Amazon Rainforest

November sunrise over Cristalino

After a year in the planning, I spent three months in the north of Mato Grosso state working as part of a team guiding ecotourists at the Cristalino Jungle Lodge and Cristalino Private Nature Reserve, part of the southern extreme of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.

Along with 410 species of birds – including the majestic harpy eagle – I also encountered a host of fantastic mammals, from spider monkeys, caimans and tapirs to anteaters, marmosets and tayras.

The photos in this album are just a taster of the wildlife extravaganza that awaits you in Brazil’s phenomenal rainforest.