Aerial view of the deforested area of the Amazonia rainforest at the Yanomami indigenous territory in the state of Roraima, Brazil. AFP
Aerial view of the deforested area of the Amazonia rainforest at the Yanomami indigenous territory in the state of Roraima, Brazil. AFP
Sao Paulo: Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest increased 14 per cent in March compared to the previous year, according to preliminary official statistics released on Friday, illustrating the new leftist government’s ongoing struggles.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva entered office on 1 January, promising to put a stop to deforestation after his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, reduced environmental protection operations in the Amazon.
“This rise in numbers reveals that the Amazon still suffers from a huge lack of governance and that the new government needs to act urgently to rebuild its capacity for repression of environmental crime, which had been totally destroyed by the last government,” said Marcio Astrini, head of the local environmental group Climate Observatory.
Space research agency Inpe’s data showed 356 square km (137 square miles) were cleared in Brazil’s Amazon just last month.
The latest figures present a mixed picture of the government’s anti-deforestation thus far with the destruction for January to March falling to 845 square kilometres (326 square miles), a decrease of 11 per cent from the prior year.
Brazil officially measures annual deforestation from August to July, to limit the influence of cloud cover obscuring destruction satellite images during the rainy months. For the first eight months of that period, August 2022 to March 2023, deforestation is up 39 per cent year on year.
“There are only four months left to close the final deforestation numbers. This means that a decrease in deforestation in the Amazon final rates in 2023 is unlikely. In fact, it has greater chances of increasing,” Astrini says.
At the end of February in Brasilia, US climate envoy John Kerry said that the world cannot meet its climate goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius unless it protects the Amazon rainforest.
Washington announced at the beginning of the year it intended to contribute to Brazil’s Amazon Fund, which supports conservation projects in the jungle region.
Norway also pledged its support last month for Brazil’s efforts to attract additional donor countries for the Amazon Fund.
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