Project goal: to protect the Amazon rainforest
Project size: 600,000 square kilometers (231,660 square miles) of forest by 2016
Investment: around 31 million euros ($38 million) by the German ministry for economic cooperation and development and the German environment ministry

The Amazonian rainforest, known as the "world's lung," is hurtling towards destruction. Soya farms, infrastructure projects and new settlements are encroaching on the forest. Almost half of Brazil's greenhouse gases can be traced back to deforestation. That's why there are plans to designate large parts of the rain forest as specially protected zones. The initiative comes from the residents themselves, who have commited to protecting the "Verde para Sempre" region.

A film by Christian Jaburg