How can you preserve something when you don’t really know what you’re preserving? Back in 2009 the Brazilian government promised to cut their 2004 deforestation rates 80% by 2020. And last week saw excellent news from the country’s Forestry Ministry, which is planning an incredibly detailed survey of the unique and seriously threatened Amazon rainforest.

According to the Brazilian Forestry Minister, Antonio Carlos Hummel, they are going to “come to know the rainforest from within” during the first detailed survey for more than 30 years.

Brazil’s 3,288,000 square miles of rainforest – about half the remaining tropical forest on earth – will be sampled by expert teams who will log 20,000 points at 20km intervals, looking at the number, height, diameter and species of trees as well as identifying how local people interact with the rainforest at each site.

The survey is set to cost Brazil a cool 33 million…