Research Councils UK sign groundbreaking MoU w...(fundamental and applied research. ...)

Professor Yadvinder Malhi, who has carried out extensive research in the Amazon, is part of a community of UK environmental scientists with a long history of working with Brazilian colleagues. He presented some of the community's discoveries and ongoing work to attendees, showing how the Amazon forest is responding to global atmospheric change, and to extreme events such as the drought of 2005. This has led to greater understanding of the critical role than Amazonia plays for both the regional and global climate.

Commenting on the MoU, Professor Malhi said: "Our research in the Amazon is already supported by Research Council funding and it's great that this agreement will make it even easier for me and my co-researchers to access the resources we need."

Professor Carlos A Joly, leader of the most effective biodiversity conservation research program in Brazil, BIOTA/FAPESP: The Virtual Institute of Biodiversity, is particularly interested in promoting joint research projects to understand better the highly destructive relationship between climate change and biodiversity loss. Having done his PhD at St. Andrews University, Prof. Joly is a testament to the long standing cooperation between UK and Brazilian institutions, which will be fostered in the new era of partnerships that is being established by this MoU.

"In the Thematic Project I am developing along an Atlantic Rain Forest altitudinal gradient, we are already working with UK researchers to adapt and develop new equations to estimate forest carbon stocks and changes. But the agreement that is being signed today gives us a fantastic opportunity to broaden the scope of our cooperation and stimulate a more intense exchange of students and research teams", said Prof. Joly.

Secretary of State, Lord Peter Mandelson, commented: "This is further proof that the strong links between the UK and Brazil continue to grow. Cutting-edge rese
'/>"/>