Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has broken a new record for the month of October by reaching 904 square kilometers this year, according to official data made public on Friday, November 11.
The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) notes, after the analysis of satellite observations, a 3% increase in the deforested area in the largest tropical forest on the planet compared to October 2021. In just ten months , the year 2022 is already the worst in this statistical series for deforestation in the Amazon, with 9,494 square kilometers of vegetation wiped off the map, breaking the record of 9,178 square kilometers for the whole of 2021.
The Brazilian branch of the WWF organization stressed in a press release that deforestation and fires had “exploded” in the Amazon since the result of the presidential election. On October 30, Jair Bolsonaro, accused by environmentalists of favoring the destruction of the Amazon, was beaten by a short head by the left-wing ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), who is committed to fighting for zero deforestation.
Multiplied by 75% under Jair Bolsonaro
“The increase in deforestation [en octobre] was expected, but the preliminary data from the first days of November is frightening, it is a real frantic race for devastation” before the change of government, regrets WWF. Under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, average annual deforestation has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.
President Lula, who will begin his third term on 1is January, confirmed Thursday that he would go to COP27 in Egypt early next week, where he could announce the first guidelines of his environmental policy. “The new government will have a lot of work to put the country back on track, to put an end to a perception that the Amazon is a lawless land”says Raul do Valle, of WWF, quoted in the press release of the NGO.
The environmental policy of the Bolsonaro government “will still cause damage for a while, it will be a huge challenge to change the situation, but it is inevitable for Brazil to become a leader in the climate debate again”adds André Freitas, of Greenpeace in Brazil.