Who should decide the fate of the Amazon rainforest? The people who live there? The Brazilian government? The international community? Or individuals all over the world?
On Thursday May 15, أغر؟´«أ½ correspondents examined the , the struggle between the needs of local people to exploit the rainforest and the global need to preserve its unique nature and resources for the whole world.
Here are a selection of the best interviews of the day:
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Scientists in Brazil that say 2008 may end up being a disastrous year for the world's most important eco-system.
The Rio Negro- where Fergus Nicoll is reporting from
A new report published by Dr Carlos Nobre, a scientist with a government agency that monitors the Amazon, shows that the destruction of the rainforest has surged in the past few months.
The announcement has broken a three year pattern in which deforestation rates had begun to slow.
The أغر؟´«أ½'s Fergus Nicoll asked him about the latest figures:
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Last week the Brazilian government announced plans to simultaneously protect the Amazon rainforest while developing the region economically.
Roberto Mangabeira Unger has been given executive leadership over the entire 'Plan for a Sustainable Amazon'.
But Brazilian politicians are far from united in their approach to the Amazon.
On Tuesday May 13, environment minister Marina Silva resigned after six stormy years in office.
The أغر؟´«أ½'s Americas editor, Americo Martins asked Roberto Mangabeira Unger if he was surprised that she had stepped down.
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The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, is well known internationally for his work on the environment.
In October 2007, he set up the The Prince's Rainforests Project, to try and find ways to value, and then pay for, the crucial "ecosystem services" rainforests provide.
The Prince put it in very simple terms: "We have to make the rainforests worth more alive than dead".
Prince Charles spoke to the أغر؟´«أ½'s James Naughtie:
First broadcast 15 May 2008