RIO DE JANEIRO: President Jair Bolsonaro is dismissing the importance of Germany's funding of sustainability projects in Brazil's forests, as the European nation weighs withdrawing from the region.
In comments to reporters about a possible loss of German funding Sunday, Bolsonaro said "the country doesn't need this."
Quoting Environment Minister Svenja Schulz, German daily Tagesspiegel reported Saturday the government planned to stop sending money to a country that is not fully committed to curbing deforestation in the Amazon.
Among the projects that could suffer is the Amazon Fund, created in 2008 to receive donations to help prevent, monitor and combat deforestation in the Amazon forest. Germany is one of the fund's three main contributors.
The Bolsonaro administration, which maintains close ties to the agribusiness sector, has questioned the efficiency of the Amazon Fund.