Reduced occurrence of large-scale fires and the associated economic and health losses of residents of the Amazon;
Enhanced protection of the Amazon rain forest and the environmental services it provides;
Improved knowledge of how to prevent escaped fires in this region;

SITUATION: The northern Brazilian state of Roraima, located along the border of Venezuela and the Republic of Guyana, is facing a crisis due to an El Nino-related drought and subsequent fires which have destroyed more than 21 percent of cultivated land.

This is exacerbating problems for indigenous communities in Roraima. Not only is drought a problem, but as pasture land has dried up, water has become stagnant, resulting in greater numbers of

2. The assessments covered several regions: South/South-West, Central and North of the State of Roraima and allowed

Nobel Laureate F. Sherwood Rowland is among the scientists who released a report following a series of Nasa sponsored research flights to islands from the Galapagos to Fiji.

They traced the pollutants to massive agricultural burning in areas where farmers were clearing land to plant crops and graze cattle.

The scientists are concerned at the extent

BRASILIA, April 1 (Reuters) - Rain has put out virtually all the fires raging in the savannah and jungles of Brazil's northern Amazon, but one official warned on Wednesday there was still a risk of new outbreaks.

Satellite images showed that more than 95 percent of the worst Amazon fires on record had been extinguished by heavy rains on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa) said.

"We're out of the crisis phase," said Evaristo de Miranda, an environmental researcher at Embrapa. "It's

BRASILIA, March 30 (Reuters) - Brazil and the United Nations held emergency talks on Monday about using international aid to fight huge fires in the northern Amazon, but officials delayed a decision on whether to request foreign aircraft.

Five U.N. disaster experts were due to travel on Tuesday to remote Roraima state, near Venezuela, where flames set by subsistence farmers have swept out of control over an area of savannah and forest the size of Lebanon.

A further three officials will remain