- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon plunged sharply in July, continuing a downward trend since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office at the beginning of the year.
- The analysis of satellite data from Brazil’s national space research institute showed that 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) of tropical rainforest were cleared in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon during the month of July. This represents a 66% decline relative to July a year ago when Jair Bolsonaro was president.
- The news comes just days before leaders from eight Amazonian nations will meet in Belém to discuss ways to protect and sustainably manage Earth’s largest rainforest.
- The decline in Brazil’s rate of deforestation marks a sharp reversal relative to the trend under the Bolsonaro Administration, during which forest destruction surged.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon plunged sharply in July, continuing a downward trend since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office at the beginning of the year, according to data published today by INPE, Brazil’s national space research institute.
The analysis of satellite data from INPE’s deforestation detection system — known as DETER — showed that 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) of tropical rainforest were cleared in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon during the month of July. This represents a 66% decline relative to July a year ago when Jair Bolsonaro was president.
The total deforestation detected by DETER through the first seven months of the year amounted to 3,149 square kilometers, 42% less relative to the same period last year.
The news comes just days before leaders from eight Amazonian nations will meet in Belém to discuss ways to protect and sustainably manage Earth’s largest rainforest. The Amazon Summit is expected to renew the Amazon Cooperation Treaty between the countries.
The decline in Brazil’s rate of deforestation marks a sharp reversal relative to the trend under the Bolsonaro administration, during which forest destruction surged. Bolsonaro’s era was characterized by rollbacks of environmental laws, amnesty for illegal deforesters, heated rhetoric against environmentalists and Indigenous peoples, and calls for large-scale conversion of the Amazon rainforest for ranches and farms. The rate of creation of protected areas and recognition of Indigenous lands was also sharply curtailed.
Since retaking the presidency, Lula has worked to restore protections for the Amazon and rally international support for the ecosystem.
Since the early 1970s, nearly 20% of the Brazilian Amazon has been cleared. Scientists have warned that, in the face of climate change, continued clearing could destabilize the ecosystem. This could lead vast areas of forest to die off and be replaced by savanna and fire-prone dry woodlands.
A preliminary estimate for forest loss over the 12 months ended July 31 is expected in October or November. That analysis will be based an higher resolution imagery than used for the deforestation alert system. Last year 11,568 square kilometers of forest was lost, according to the official estimate.
Banner image of Amazon rainforest by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
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