US conservationists are hailing a landmark US Democrats reach compromise over Florida, Michigan delegates ...
Brazil president defends biofuels ... agreement under which the state of Florida will buy a huge tract of land from a major sugar company.

The US Sugar Corp has tentatively agreed to close down and sell the 800sq km of land it owns in the Everglades to Florida for $1.75bn (£890m).

Florida's governor said the agreement was as important as the creation of America's first national park.

The swampy Everglades is one of America's most unique ecosystems.

'Missing link'

A river of grass running from Lake Okeechobee in central Florida to the southern tip of the state, conservationists have struggled for years to preserve its waters.

Sugar cane production has been one of the industries blamed for its pollution.

The US Sugar Corporation is America's largest producer of sugar cane.

The deal with Florida would result in the company's closure but return a huge portion of the Everglades to the state.

If the deal goes through, it will enable officials to build a network of reservoirs and marshes, a move one conservationist has called the "missing link" in the preservation of the Everglades.

Florida's Governor Charlie Crist called the deal "monumental" and likened it to the creation of America's first national park, Yellowstone.

But for the sugar cane industry it is a blow. Cheap imports have led to the closure of dozens of mills and if the deal goes through, almost 2,000 workers will lose their jobs.

For the last eight years the state of Florida has poured billions of dollars into cleaning up the Everglades, but the progress has been slow.

It is hoped officials will sign an agreement by September, a move that conservationists say spells a new chapter in the history of the Everglades.

(BBC)

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