Outcry saves 'world's lung'

The Brazilian government backed off a controversial proposal to authorize private companies to mine a sprawling Amazon reserve Monday after blistering domestic and international criticism.

President Michel Temer's office will issue a new decree Tuesday that "restores the conditions of the area, according to the document that instituted the reserve in 1984," the Ministry of Mines and Energy said in a statement.

Last week, environmental activist group Greenpeace said at least 14 illegal mines and eight clandestine landing strips were already being used by miners in the Denmark-sized reserve known as Renca in the eastern Amazon.

Greenpeace said this showed the risks faced by Renca even without Temer's earlier proposal for ending a ban on large-scale foreign mining in the mineral-rich region.

Temer's decree signed on August 25 on opening up Renca -- rich in gold, manganese, iron and copper -- was suspended days later after an international outcry.

The president had argued that lifting restrictions would allow Brazil to boost its struggling economy and also push the hugely destructive illegal mining operations out of business.

The rainforest has a wealth of valuable commodities but has been protected for decades from private industry and is home to several indigenous tribes. It has vast swaths of untouched forest, covering more than 17,800 square miles.

Environmental groups say opening up Renca, part of the "world's lung," to mining would accelerate the advance of private mining and deforestation of preserved areas.

"The cancellation of the degree shows that, no matter how bad it is, no governing politician is absolutely immune to public pressure," said Marcio Astrini, public policy coordinator for Greenpeace Brazil.

"It is a victory of society over those who want to destroy and sell our forest."