Authorities in Brazil this week arrested members of a criminal gang that they described as the greatest destroyers of the Amazon rainforest. As the BBC reports, the organization allegedly logged and burned enormous swathes of the rainforest and sold public Amazon lands for farming, resulting in estimated damages worth more than $220 million, according to the Brazilian Federal Police. Most of the Amazon lies within Brazils borders, and deforestation rates have increased alarmingly in recent months. In 2009, Brazil pledged to reduce deforestation rates by 80 percent by the end of this decade, though its efforts have been hampered by poor enforcement and widespread corruption.