Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree creating an international fund that will seek to raise $21 billion over the next 13 years to fight deforestation in the Amazon.

Norway will be the fund's first donor, with a pledge of $100 million, Environment Minister Carlos Minc said at ceremony in Rio de Janeiro today. The fund, which aims to raise $1 billion in its first year, will finance conservation and sustainable development projects in the Amazon.

``Brazil is conscious of what the Amazon means to the world,'' Lula said in a speech. ``If the Amazon is destroyed, it could be used against our country and our products.''

Brazil is seeking foreign help to protect the world's largest rainforest as deforestation is forecast to accelerate for the first time in four years. About 12,000 square kilometers, an area 15 times the size of New York City, may be lost this year as rising prices for commodities spurs farmers and ranchers to seek out new areas to expand beef and soybean production.

The government's environmental agency plans to expedite auctions of cattle, timber and other products seized from illegal land grabbers in the forest, which comprises 59 percent of Brazil's territory. Proceeds will be used to fund the government's anti-hunger programs.

Brazil proposed the Amazon fund at the 2007 United Nations climate summit in Bali. Donations to the fund won't generate carbon credits. The fund, up to 20 percent of which can be used to finance projects in tropical rainforests outside Brazil, will be administered by the BNDES state development bank.

European Trip

Strategic Affairs Minister Roberto Mangabeira Unger traveled to Germany, Sweden, Norway and the U.K. last month to build support for the new fund. So far, there haven't been any other donations pledged.

``It's not an exercise in empty handshaking or guilt assuaging,'' he said in an interview in Brasilia before the trip. ``There's a real problem of deforestation that's of great interest to the world, and some countries have decided to step up to the plate and help us solve it.''

About 20 percent of global carbon emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation, according to the World Bank.

Minc took over as environmental minister in May after his predecessor Marina Silva resigned over his disagreement with Lula's plans to speed up economic growth in the Amazon, including construction of two hydroelectric dams.

To contact the reporters on this story: Joshua Goodman in Rio de Janeiro at Jgoodman19@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 1, 2008 16:45 EDT