Lack of protection leaves Spain-size swath of Brazilian Amazon up for grabs
The Brazilian Amazon is home to public lands that span an area the size of Spain — undesignated forests that are at growing risk of land grabbing encouraged by the…
Articles by Jenny Gonzales
Jenny Gonzales is a Brazilian journalist based in São Paulo. Formerly contributor at the sustainability & companies section of Valor Econômico newspaper, business assistant editor of Carta Capital magazine, correspondent for Brazilian publications and editor of Time magazine's Portuguese supplement in New York.
As Amazon deforestation hits 12 year high, France rejects Brazilian soy
A day after Brazil announced 11,000 square kilometers of annual deforestation, France, the EU’s biggest buyer of Brazilian soy flour, announced plans to become more self-sufficient on the commodity.
As fire season ends, Brazil cited for failed Amazon and Pantanal policies
Brazilian armed forces accused of incompetence, funding misappropriations in 2020 Amazon deforestation prevention and fire suppression operations: Critics.
Brazil moves toward transfer of deforestation and fire monitoring to military
For three decades, INPE, Brazil’s civilian space agency has successfully and publicly monitored Amazon deforestation and fires. Now Jair Bolsonaro is intent on giving the job over to the secretive Brazilian military.
Friday night follies: Brazil cuts deforestation funding, then restores it
In a befuddling move, the Bolsonaro administration last Friday cut all agency funding to fight deforestation and put out fires in the Amazon and Pantanal, then reversed the decision; even as both biomes burned.
Pioneer study maps regions of Amazon tree flora and may help in future efforts at species conservation
Two Brazilian biologists divided the Amazon Forest into 13 subregions, according to tree and shrub species. This spatial distribution allows targeting protection efforts.
As Amazon tree loss worsens, political pressure grows, and Brazil hedges: Critics
New satellite data shows major tree loss, while Brazil’s VP cherry picks the findings, according to experts. Meanwhile, the environment minister appears to welcome illegal miners’ demands for less enforcement.
Brazil dismantles environmental laws via huge surge in executive acts: Study
In April, Brazil’s environment minister urged Pres. Bolsonaro to “run the cattle,” using the nation’s focus on COVID-19 as a diversion to dismantle environmental rule of law; some new executive acts appear to do just that.
Goldminers overrun Amazon indigenous lands as COVID-19 surges
Brazilian NGO flyovers show that indigenous reserves — including Munduruku lands in the Tapajós basin — are being illegally invaded and deforested by miners likely funded and directed by elite land speculators.
Brazil’s past finance ministers defend environment against Bolsonaro
17 former Brazilian Finance ministers and Central Bank presidents reject Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policies, urging end to Amazon deforestation and adoption of economic policies addressing climate change.
Top Amazon deforestation satellite researcher sacked by Bolsonaro
Just days after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro got the bad news that the Amazon 12-month deforestation rate has risen 96% since he took office, his administration fired the researcher overseeing monitoring.
Brazil bows to pressure from business, decrees 120-day Amazon fire ban
With the Amazon fire season looming, 38 transnational firms, including Alcoa, Bayer, Shell, Siemens, Suzano, and Amaggi asked Brazil to act against environmental crimes. Brazil’s vice president has responded with a fire ban — critics say much more is needed.
World’s biggest trade deal in trouble over EU anger at Brazil deforestation
It’s the one-year anniversary of the finalization of a gigantic trade agreement between the EU and Mercusor, a bloc of Latin American nations, but Brazil’s soaring deforestation rate puts ratification at risk.
38 endangered Brazilian tree species legally traded, poorly tracked: Study
The 38 species, some found in the Amazon, were logged, milled, and sold in Brazil or exported, likely ending up as high-end decking. Better tracking and protection is needed, say researchers.
Green alert: How indigenous people are experiencing climate change in the Amazon
Late rainfall, intense drought, dry riverbeds, more forest fires, less food available — indigenous communities across the Amazon suffer social transformations due to climate change.
Brazil minister advises using COVID-19 to distract from Amazon deregulation
Global outrage at Environment Minister Ricardo Salles caught on video saying "run the cattle herd" through the Amazon, "changing all the rules and simplifying standards" while public distracted by pandemic.
Brazil sacks officials who curbed deforestation on Amazon indigenous lands
Two environmental agency coordinators with a record of deeply reducing illegal mining and deforestation in the Amazon’s Xingu basin were sacked after they led a recent successful raid.
Brazil sets record for highly hazardous pesticide consumption: Report
Continued deregulation and fast tracking of new products under President Bolsonaro have helped secure Brazil’s place as the world’s largest user of very toxic pesticides.
On the prowl: Jaguar population rises in Iguazú Falls region
After almost losing its jaguar population in the first decade of the century, the Atlantic Forest area between Brazil and Argentina registered more than twice the increase in the number of individuals. It is the only case registered in South America.
NGOs demand inquiry into Environment Minister aid to Amazon land grabbers
25 environmental and indigenous groups in Brazil have filed a formal inquiry request into Environment Minister Ricardo Salles’ possibly illegal deal with convicted land grabbers.
As pesticide approvals soar, Brazil’s tapirs, bees, other wildlife suffer
Forty percent of samples collected from 116 tapirs in a Cerrado study were poisoned with 13 toxic residues including 9 insecticides and herbicides, plus 4 heavy metals: report.
Amazon’s giant South American river turtle holding its own, but risks abound
A major six nation study finds that the arrau is thriving mostly in river systems where conservationists are active, but not elsewhere; climate change looms as a major threat.
Brazil adds deforestation monitoring for all biomes, so long as money lasts
In the past, only the Amazon and Cerrado were monitored for tree loss, but now Amazon Fund money will pay for Pantanal, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga and Pampa monitoring.
LIDAR technology leads Brazilian team to 30 story tall Amazon tree
The 88.5 meter (290 foot) tree was found by a study team creating a detailed forest biomass map of the Amazon to track carbon emissions caused by land use change.
State governors support Bolsonaro’s Amazon mining, agribusiness plans
At an Amazon fire meeting, President Jair Bolsonaro and 7 out of 9 state governors pressed forward with plans to open indigenous areas to mining and agribusiness.
Misinformation and blame spread concerning sources of Amazon fires
While conservationists point to the link between environmental deregulation and the Amazon fires, one ruralist farmer claims Brazil’s National Park Service set the blazes.
Deforestation, climate crisis could crash Amazon tree diversity: study
Combined impacts of escalating climate change and rising deforestation could result in an up to 58 percent reduction in Amazon tree species richness by 2050.
Bolsonaro administration approves 290 new pesticide products for use
Environmentalists are alarmed as Brazil approves 290 new pesticides and reduces restrictions for toxicological product evaluations, paving way for more approvals.
Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
Indigenous reserves and other conserved lands in nine Amazonian nations are under extreme pressure as roads, mining, dams, oil drilling, fires and deforestation encroach.
How a sheriff in Brazil is using satellites to stop deforestation
Before becoming the chief of police at the Police Specialized in Crimes Against the Environment (DEMA) in the northern Brazilian state of Amapá, Leonardo Brito had never worked in the environmental field…
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