Frederico Drumond Martins of ICMBio is the manager of the national forest and agrees that Vale is trying to be greener - for example, he says, he only has 12 rangers but Vale pays for a further 80, plus cars, boats and the use of a helicopter, all vital to guard against illegal logging and poaching.
Despite a climb in yields on ten-year government bonds to above 7%, the average interest rate Portugal pays on sovereign borrowing is only 3.6%, says Mr Teixeira dos Santos.