Amazon Deforestation in September Increased 96 Percent over September 2018

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Deforestation in the Amazon increased by approximately 96 percent in September, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

The increase refers to the same month in 2018 and was recorded by DETER, a system that triggers deforestation alerts to support IBAMA’s actions.

Since June, the devastation in the Amazon has been growing in relation to INPE’s historical record. The months of July, August and September in the first year of Jair Bolsonaro’s government had their highest rates of deforestation since the inception of DETER’s records, in 2015.

June saw a 90 percent increase in deforestation. In July, it was a 278 percent growth. In August, the leap was 222 percent, compared to the same period in the previous year.

In September, 1,447 km² of Amazon forest were devastated. The DETER (Real-Time Deforestation Detection System) is not designed to accurately measure the deforested area, which is performed by PRODES, which is published annually, pointing out the deforestation between August of one year and July of the following year.

Even so, DETER can be used to show the general upward or downward trend in forest destruction.

The explosion in deforestation led, between July and August, to unsubstantiated attacks by Bolsonaro’s government on the deforestation data produced by INPE.