Norway, which it turns out is not in South America, is the first country to donate to an Amazon preservation fund that will give money to Brazil to save its rainforest.   According to the Associated Press via MSNBC, Norway pledged $1 billion to the fund, paid by 2015, assuming that Brazil reduces deforestation.

The hope is that $21 billion will be raised that will all go to Brazil so that the country may immediately work “to protect nature reserves, to persuade loggers and farmers to stop destroying trees and to finance scientific and technological projects.“  Says Noways Prime Minster Jens Stoltenberg

‘Efforts against deforestation may give us the largest, quickest and cheapest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Brazilian efforts against deforestation are therefore of vital importance if we shall succeed in our campaign against global warming.’

Seems to make sense, no?  This year, Norway will give $21 million to Brazil, next year $210 million, and will keep releasing money according to some sort of metric based on how well Brazil is doing on combating deforestation. I’m not sure the calculator they’re going to be using for that one, but I’m sure they’ll figure it out.   I mean, what else is Norway doing today?

Germany and “two other unnamed nations” plan to donate to this fund, and I have no idea why two of these nations prefer to remain anonymous.   Is anyone thinking this is a bad thing that they’re doing?  takepart and visit Conservation International’s page about forests to learn what you can do to help save them, aside from donating a billion dollars that you may or may not just have lying around.