Brazilian government officials said Wednesday that they would crack down on cattle ranchers in the Amazon after new data showed that deforestation there had increased by 26 percent in the nine months that ended in April, compared to with the same period a year before. The data showed to that about 710 square miles had been deforested in that time. Izabella Teixeira, Brazil’s environment minister, called the jump “unacceptable” and vowed to seize the cattle of farmers who are practicing deforestation to cultivate new pastureland. Ibama, Brazil’s environmental protection agency, more than doubled police operations this year intended to deter deforestation.
