Preliminary government data has showed deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rose for the 14th consecutive month in June, heaping further pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro who is under fire for worsening destruction of the rainforest on his watch.
Destruction rose 10.7 per cent for the month, compared to June 2019, according to national space research agency Inpe.
Reuters Newsagency reports in the first six months of the year, deforestation is now up 25 per cent to 3066 square kilometres, agency data showed.
“The pressure is increasing,” said Mariana Napolitano, advocacy group WWF-Brasil’s head of science.
“The deforestation data by itself shows that we now have a very complicated situation that is out of control in the Amazon.”
If there is another increase in deforestation in July, Brazil is headed for annual deforestation of more than 15,000 square kilometres, or an area larger than Connecticut, said Ane Alencar, science director at Brazil’s Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM).
That would be up from 10,129 square kilometres last year and the highest level of deforestation since 2005, according to official government data.
Inpe measures annual deforestation from August 2019 to July 2020, with the figures slated for release late in the year.
Researchers and environmental advocates blame President Bolsonaro for emboldening illegal loggers, ranchers and land speculators by weakening environmental enforcement and calling for more commercial mining and farming in the Amazon to develop the economy.
Reuters reports President Bolsonaro said he was being unfairly demonised and that Brazil had an exemplary environmental track record, pointing to vast swathes of forest that remain standing.
Following global pressure, especially from foreign investment firms, President Bolsonaro has deployed the military to combat deforestation since May and next week is slated to ban fires in the Amazon region for 120 days.
President Bolsonaro signed a decree extending authorisation for the military deployment until November 6, according to a notice published in the official government gazette.
Scientists say that preserving the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is vital to curbing climate change because of the vast amount of greenhouse gas it absorbs and stores.
For January 1 through June 25, IPAM and United States-based Woods Hole Research Centre calculated that deforestation and fires in Brazil’s Amazon released 115 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, up roughly 20 per cent from the same period a year ago.
That is, according to their analysis, equivalent to the annual emissions of 25 million cars.
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One Response
Australia not far behind. DO NOT USE white paper and thin brown paper bags as all made from these forests despite false and trick wording recycled claims . Use ecocern instead.