The destruction of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has continued to increase dramatically. As the Brazilian space agency Inpe announced on Thursday, citing satellite images, as much rainforest was destroyed within a year as it was last 15 years ago. From August 2020 to July 2021, 13,235 square kilometers of rainforest were destroyed. That was almost 22 percent more than in the same period last year, when a record value was also recorded.
The Amazon rainforest is of central importance for climate protection – it is considered the “green lung” of the earth. However, under the far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the destruction of the rainforest has increased dramatically. Deforestation has increased for the third time in a row since he took office.
Environmental and climate protection activists blame Bolsonaro’s politics for this, which they accuse of facilitating illegal clearing. Bolsonaro had already announced during the election campaign that he would develop the Amazon region more economically and repeatedly opened protected areas for agriculture and mining.
Brazil’s Environment Minister Joaquim Leite admitted that the new figures were “a challenge”. He also announced a more determined fight against environmental crime.
At the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, more than a hundred countries pledged to stop deforestation by 2030, including Brazil.