Brazil establishes Amazon Council to protect rainforest

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro announced the creation of an Amazon Council and a National Environmental Force to safeguard the world's largest rainforest.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao will be head of the council, which will coordinate actions by different ministries for "the protection, defense and sustainable development of the Amazon," Bolsonaro said on Twitter on Tuesday, reported Xinhua news agency.

The new force, similar to Brazil's National Public Security Force, will serve to protect the Amazonian environment, he said.

The new force will take over tasks formerly carried out by the National Force's elite police corps, which can be deployed at the request of a state governor, or to support Brazil's Federal Police or other federal agency.

The National Force has in the past been used to combat environmental crimes, as well as to clear roadblocks, help in disasters and generally serve as a civil defense force.