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Figures based on satellite tracking from the Brazilian Institute for Space Research show a spectacular increase in deforestation in Brazil.
The so-called PRODES figures, which were published today, are satellite data from August 1, 2019 to July 31, 2020.
They show that deforestation increased by 9.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
This increases deforestation in Brazil for the fourth consecutive year. This makes the year of deforestation 2020 the worst level of deforestation since 2008.
– It can mean the end of the rainforest
Kari Aasheim, the Rainforest Fund’s director of policy, communication and marketing, says deforestation is alarming and something the world must take seriously.
– These figures confirm the image of Brazil as worst when it comes to the destruction of tropical forests. The world cannot afford it or pay for it. The Amazon is by far the largest rainforest in the world and more than half is found in Brazil.
She says that if the world wants to achieve climate goals, Brazil must be the locomotive in that fight.
– Deforestation is concentrated in axes of destruction that threaten to irreversibly fragment the Amazon. It could mean the end of the rainforest. These axes often run along roads, both existing and planned.
– Bolsonaro’s Wild Politics
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro claims that the country is exposed to misinformation about the Amazon rainforest.
Photo: ALAN SANTOS / AFP
No more than eight years have passed since Brazil was able to report the lowest deforestation figures since the measurements began, according to the Rainforest Fund. With only 4,571 square kilometers of deforestation in 2012 and a downward trend for several years.
Since Jair Bolsonaro took office, deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon have increased dramatically, but the president himself has claimed that false accusations are spreading that the rainforest is being destroyed.
Frode Pleym, Greenpeace’s secretary general, says the figures confirm the disaster.
Photo: Johanna Hanno / Johanna Hanno
The figures are extremely alarming and yet another confirmation that things are going in the completely wrong direction for the Amazon, says Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway.
– The figures confirm the disaster: deforestation in the Amazon is accelerating amid the global climate crisis and the loss of nature. This is a deliberate policy of President Bolsonaro of Brazil, who prioritizes the gains of powerful industrial forces over our common future, Pleym says.
