Brazil's government is starting a programme to replant deforested areas of the Amazon with palm trees and harvest their oil for biodiesel.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the project is an example of both preserving the forest and reaping economic benefit from it.

Besides restoring tree cover where it has been razed, officials hope to discourage further deforestation by developing a sustainable alternative to logging and ranching.

Mr Silva did not say how much terrain will be planted. But some 31.8 million hectares were identified as suitable for the palms, which are native to the area.

The programme will focus on Para state, which has the highest levels of deforestation in Brazil.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.