The new deforestation rate in the Amazon announced by the Brazilian government has shocked conservationists, who said that drastic measures are needed to reverse a large increase in clearing since last year. The world's largest tropical rainforest is being rapidly cleared for agriculture, including soy bean fields and cattle ranches. Based on the annual satellite image survey by the Brazilian National Space Research Institute (INPE), 25,500 square kilometers (9,845 square miles) of Amazon forests disappeared between July 2001 and June 2002.