RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Deforestation warnings in the Amazon exceeded 1,000 km² in April. Data released Friday (6) by Deter, a warning system of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), showed that there were 1,012.5 km² from April 1 to 29 – a record for the period.
The figure is almost double the 580 km² recorded in April last year. The official deforestation data are measured by the Prodes system (Project for Monitoring Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon Forest by Satellite) and published at the end of each year.
The states with the largest deforested area were: Amazonas (346.89 km²), Pará (241.92 km²), Mato Grosso (286.68 km²) and Rondônia (107.86 km²).
The Climate Observatory, which groups environmental organizations, pointed out that the figure is 165% higher than the average for the month.
As of March 2022, the federal government has verified only 2.17% of the deforestation alerts received since 2019, representing 13.1% of the total deforestation detected.
The data were obtained from MapBiomas, the nationwide platform for environmental and territorial information, in collaboration with Instituto Centro de Vida (a civil society organization) and Brasil.IO. (public data repository).
The control rate varies from state to state. According to the survey, the situation was considered “somewhat better” in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, and São Paulo. The highlight is Mato Grosso, where 29% of deforestation warnings have already been controlled.