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The deforestation rate in August was lower than last year, but still much higher than before Bolsonaro took office.
Deforestation in the Amazon tropical rainforest in Brazil decreased in August compared with the same period last year, and continued to show a downward trend. Keep it high Compared with right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro (Jair Bolsonaro) before he took office.
According to data from the country’s National Space Research Agency (INPE), the area cleared of forests in August totaled 918 square kilometers (354 square miles), a 32% decrease from the same month in 2020.
This decline marked the second consecutive month that the amount of deforestation was lower than in previous years.
However, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, often referred to as the “lungs of the earth,” fell by only 1.2% from January to August 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. This decrease is equivalent to 6,026 square kilometers, which is more than seven times the size of New York City.
Kayapo indigenous men patrol the indigenous territory of Menkragnoti to defend against attacks by loggers and miners in the southwestern Brazilian state of Para. [File: Lucas Landau/Reuters]The amount of deforestation in Brazil so far this year has almost doubled from January to August 2018, when Bolsonaro took office and immediately took measures to weaken environmental law enforcement and promoted the logging boom.
Nonetheless, there have been signs in recent weeks that the Bolsonaro government is taking some tentative measures to deal with the soaring destruction.
Environment Minister Joaquim Pereira Leite said last month that the government has doubled its environmental enforcement budget and plans to hire about 700 new environmental site agents.
Deforestation and forest fires
Despite these measures, environmental advocates say that the damage has only levelled off, and there is no sign of returning to Bolsonaro’s previous levels.
High deforestation rate also helps Contribute to forest firesAccording to the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, the felled trees can be used for fire.
Loggers usually use fire to extract valuable wood so that it can be removed for final agricultural use.
Smoke from burning vegetation rises in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest near the Transamazonica National Highway in Humetá, Amazonas, Brazil. [File: Bruno Kelly/Reuters]A Reuters witness while traveling in the southern Amazon state last week saw the fire billowing dense smoke for miles and smog covering the ground.
Many fires occurred near the edge of the existing cattle ranch. According to a landmark research draft prepared by 200 scientists and published in July, most of the burned land may also become pasture, and cattle farms are the main driver of deforestation.
According to INPE data, Amazon’s August fires-although they were also slightly lower than a year ago-were higher than the historical monthly average for the third consecutive year.
Before Bolsonaro, the last time Brazil saw such a high fire in the Amazon was in 2010.
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