Deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil increased nearly 30 per cent in 1998, despite new measures to curb destruction of the world's largest rainforest, the Brazilian government said on Wednesday. Preliminary figures from satellite monitoring showed 6,500 square miles (16,800 square km) of forest - more than half the size of Belgium - was cleared last year. That was 27 per cent higher than in 1997 but slightly lower than in 1996, the Environment Ministry said.