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Google Earth on a mission

SAO PAULO: A Brazilian Indian tribe is linking up with Google Earth to try to capture vivid images that could help stop loggers and miners from deforesting the jungle and digging for gold on its vast Amazon reservation.

Though the project is still in the planning stages for a remote area that does not even have Internet access yet, the tribe’s chief and Google hope their unusual alliance will reduce illegal rainforest destruction where government enforcement is spotty at best.

Google Earth, which enables anyone who downloads its free software to see satellite images and maps of most of the world, is increasingly being called upon for humanitarian purposes by groups who see the potential.

Last year, Google Earth joined forces with the UNEP to show users areas of environmental destruction, and with the Jane Goodall Institute to highlight its research. — AP

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