RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The vegetation in the Brazilian Amazon region decreased by a total of 284.3 square kilometers in January 2020. This represents the largest deforestation recorded in the month of January since 2016; it is double that recorded in the same month in 2019, when deforestation was 136.2 square kilometers, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
The INPE released these data based on a preliminary deforestation projection conducted using a warning system for changes in the forest coverage of the Amazon. This projection was based on the analysis of satellite images. Earlier, the Institute had pointed out that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon had increased by 85 percent last year. Whereas in 2018 it was approximately 4,219 square kilometers, in 2019 it was more than 9,165 square kilometers, thus reaching its highest level since 2016.
Environmentalists blame this increase on both the relaxation of monitoring measures and the anti-environmental rhetoric of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who advocates the economic exploitation of the world’s largest rainforest and rejects the creation of new indigenous territories.
According to non-governmental organizations, the speeches of the far-right president about the Amazon region encourage the illegal occupation of the forests by trespassers and illegal loggers. Despite all the criticism, Bolsonaro has submitted a bill to Congress in early February 2020 to allow mining, oil exploration and the construction of hydroelectric plants in indigenous areas.
Deforestation is also regarded as one of the main causes of forest fires, which increased by 30 percent last year and destroyed large areas of the Amazon, shocking the world.
Several analysts pointed out that the high level of deforestation in January 2020 suggests that infringements by loggers and farmers began earlier this year. In general, the rainfall this month has slowed down the destruction of the forest, as it has made it difficult to work with heavy machinery in the jungle areas.