BRAZIL’S AMAZON SUFFERS RECORD DEFORESTATION IN FEBRUARY

Sat 11 March 2023:

According to new data from the nation’s National Space Agency, deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon jungle reached a record level in February (INPE)

According to the data from the DETER System by INPE, 322 square kilometers (79,568 acres) of the jungle were deforested in February.

In comparison to February 2022, when 199 square kilometers of forest were cleared, the figure shows a 62% increase.

Mato Grosso, with 162 square kilometers of deforestation, Para, with 46 square kilometers, Amazonas, with 46 square kilometers, and Roraima, with 31 square kilometers, were the states with the highest records.

In the Cerrado, deforestation hit 558 square kilometers in February, an increase of 98% compared to February 2022, as 282 square kilometers were deforested.

Many environmentalists and defenders of Indigenous peoples and their territorial rights criticized former President Jair Bolsonaro’s policies, insisting he rolled back environmental protections, causing ecological destruction as illegal loggers, miners and ranchers have cleared large swathes of land.

In November 2022, before assuming the presidency, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged at the UN climate change conference, COP27, to protect the Amazon rainforest, telling officials in the first three years of the Bolsonaro administration, deforestation increased 73%, while last year, 13,000 square kilometers were deforested.

He pledged to strengthen inspection bodies and monitoring systems and clamp down on “environmental crimes.”

Since returning to the presidency, Lula has sought to strengthen environmental bodies, created an Indigenous Ministry and relaunched the “Amazon Fund” that seeks to safeguard the Amazon biomass.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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