BRASILIA – Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell 16 percent in the year to July 2017 compared to the same period a year prior, the first decline in three years, the country’s environment minister said on Tuesday. Reasons for the decline included stepped-up enforcement and refinements in real-time monitoring that allow for rapid response to deforestation, Minister Jose Sarney Filho told a news conference at the presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia. However, Paulo Barreto, a senior researcher for non-profit Amazon institute Imazon, said economic recession in Brazil and a drop in livestock prices were likely the major cause for the decline. The cattle industry is a major contributor to deforestation.