Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed the importance of Germany's funding of sustainability projects in the South American country's forests, as the European nation weighed withdrawing from the region.

"The country doesn't need this," the far-right President known for his ties to agribusiness said about a possible loss of German funding in Brazil's vast Amazon rainforest.

Citing Environment Minister Svenja Schulz, German daily Tagesspiegel reported the government planned to stop sending money to a country that is not fully committed to curbing deforestation. According to Tagesspiegel, the ministry is planning to initially freeze some 35 million euros ($58 million).

Among the projects that could suffer is the Amazon Fund, created in 2008 to receive donations to help prevent, monitor and combat deforestation.