Brazilian Amazon deforestation up 150% during Bolsonaro's last month

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Jan 10:12

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 150 percent in December compared to the previous year, according to government data.

The Brazilian Amazon burns in southern Amazonas state in September 2022. (AFP)

According to government figures released Friday, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 150 percent in December compared to the previous year, providing a final bleak report for far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro in his final month in office.

The national space agency's DETER surveillance program reports that satellite monitoring detected 218.4 square kilometers (84.3 square miles) of forest cover destruction in Brazil's share of the world's largest rainforest last month.

The area was nearly four times the size of Manhattan and was up more than 150 percent from the 87.2 square kilometers destroyed in December 2021, according to INPE.

Bolsonaro, who was replaced on January 1 by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, sparked international outrage during his four years in office for a surge in fires and clear-cutting in the Amazon, a critical resource in the fight against climate change.

Under Bolsonaro, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 75.5 percent over the previous decade.

"Bolsonaro's government may be over, but his tragic environmental legacy will still be felt for a long time," Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups, said in a statement.

After 2017 and 2015, it was the third-worst December on record for the eight-year-old DETER program.

Deforestation was also at or near record levels in 2022 during the critical dry-season months of August, September, and October, when clear-cutting and fires often increase due to drier weather.

The destruction is primarily caused by farms and land grabbers clearing the forest for cattle and crops, according to experts

Lula presided over a sharp drop in deforestation when he previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010.
He has vowed to relaunch Brazil's environmental protection programs, fight for zero deforestation, and ensure that the South American giant is no longer a "pariah" when it comes to climate change.