- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon declined slightly over the past 12 months but still reached the second highest level since 2008, according to data from the country’s national space research institute, INPE.
- INPE’s satellite-based deforestation alert system registered 1,498 square kilometers (578 square miles) in July, bringing the 12-month total to 8,591 square kilometers, 6.8% below the total this time last year when the extent of deforestation reached the highest level since 2008.
- Deforestation between January 1 and July 31, 2021 is up 3.4% over last year.
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for about two-thirds of Earth’s largest rainforest, has been trending upward since 2012.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon declined slightly over the past 12 months but still reached the second highest level since 2008, reports the country’s national space research institute, INPE.
According to INPE’s satellite-based deforestation alert system, forest clearing in the Brazilian Amazon amounted to 1,498 square kilometers (578 square miles) in July, bringing the 12-month total to 8,591 square kilometers, 6.8% below the total this time last year when the extent of deforestation reached the highest level since 2008. Deforestation since January is up 3.4% over last year, however.
INPE’s alert system data is preliminary. Final data for the August 1 through July 31 period Brazil uses for measuring annual deforestation is expected in November.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for about two-thirds of Earth’s largest rainforest, has been trending upward since 2012. Scientists have warned that the combination of deforestation, degradation, and climate change could tip vast areas of the Amazon from rainforest to savanna. Such a shift would have significant implications for rainfall patterns regionally and global climate, as well as biodiversity and forest-dependent peoples.
Signs of drying across parts of the Amazon are already evident: The southern reaches are in the midst of a drought that has raised concerns about fire. According to analysis by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project, as of last week 267 major fires had been recorded across the Amazon this year, an increase over last year. Most of these fires are burning through recently deforested areas.
To combat fires, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro mobilized the military on June 23, marking the third straight year the army has been called in to quell burning.
Despite these efforts, deforestation has been markedly higher under Bolsonaro than other recent administrations in Brazil. Bolsonaro’s administration has rolled back environmental protections, encouraged mining and agribusiness in the Amazon, and relaxed environmental law enforcement, while expressing open hostility against forest advocates.
Bolsonaro’s allies are also moving forward with legislation that environmentalists say could pose further risks for the Amazon. For example, Last week Brazil’s lower house of Congress passed a bill that will allow squatters to more easily secure title to lands they occupy in the Amazon. Critics argue the measure will effectively grant amnesty to “land grabbers” who have illegally cut down forests and signal that future illegal deforestation may also be forgiven.
