In March alone, 356 square kilometers of rainforest were cut down in the Brazilian Amazon. This is the result of preliminary figures published by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), based in São José dos Campos. According to the Brazilian news portal G1, this corresponds to an increase of 14 percent compared to the same month last year. The Inpe uses satellite imagery to record deforestation and fires.
“The number tells us that there is still no governance in the Amazon region,” Brazilian television quoted Marcio Astrini of the climate think tank Observatório do Clima as saying. “We’ve lost the ability to fight environmental crime, and that’s why we’re seeing these rising numbers of deforestation.” Deforestation was also high in the savannahs in the center of the South American country in the first three months of this year.
The Brazilian Amazon region is considered an important CO₂ storage area, stretches across nine states and is the size of Western Europe in terms of area. After an earlier decline, deforestation and fires rose sharply again during the tenure of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who was voted out in October.
The number tells us that there is still no governance in the Amazon.
Marcio Astrini from the climate think tank Observatório do Clima
Environmentalists and climate activists had hoped the rate would fall under the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The left-wing politician was not considered a Green in his two previous terms of office, but has now promised to strengthen environmental and climate protection. According to experts like Astrini, however, the measures taken so far have not yet had the necessary effect. They are therefore calling for faster action.
Lula had come with the promise to take a firm hand against the destruction of the forest. In the first three months of the year, the state environmental authorities issued 219 percent more fines than the average of the past four years, in which environmental controls had been reduced under President Jair Messias Bolsonaro.
According to the environmental agency Ibama, the authorities still need time to set up new control structures. So you have to double the staff. In addition, certain Bolsonaro decrees that would have led to more forest destruction would first have to be repealed.
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