Brazil and U.S. Sign Deal to Convert Debt into Conservation Fund

The United States and Brazil agreed to convert $21 million of Brazilian debt into a fund to protect three tropical ecosystems.

Brazil will use the money to conserve the Cerrado and Caatinga ecosystems, as well as its Atlantic coastal rainforest, instead of repaying the debt, BBC News said.

Brazil's Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said the agreement is a "qualitative leap" forward in cooperation with the United States.

Over the next five years, Brazil will use the money to support conservation and improve the incomes of people who live in the threatened areas.