A well-hugged lotA lesson for othersSep 23rd 2010Sustainable Development in Practice: Lessons Learned From Amazonas. By Virgilio Viana. International Institute for Environment and Development; 60 pages; $20 and £13.50 or free online. By from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukDEEP in the Amazon rainforest, a strong bid is being made to save the trees. Between 2003 and 2009, the deforestation rate of Amazonas, Brazil’s most forested state, which has more rainforest than any country save Brazil itself, dropped by 70%.This success was partly for reasons that have little to do with Amazonas. Over the same period, the federal government improved its enforcement of forest laws. Global demand for Brazil’s agricultural commodities, rivals for forestland, also dipped. Thus the country’s overall...