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BFF-07
BRAZIL-POLITICS-ENVIRONMENT
Revised data shows deforestation in Brazil Amazon at decade high
BRASILIA, Nov 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Brazil on Thursday released revised
statistics showing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest surpassed 10,000
square kilometers (3,860 square miles) in the year to July 2019, the highest
in more than a decade.
The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said last week that
satellite data showed 9,762 square kilometers were cleared of trees in the
12-month period, an increase of 29.5 percent.
This week’s revised statistics released by the INPE show the increase was
even greater than thought: a 43 percent jump in deforestation in the world’s
largest rainforest, for a total loss of 10,100 square kilometers in the 12
months to July.
That’s against a loss of 7,033 square kilometers between August 2017 and
July 2018.
The deforestation is the largest since 2008, when 12,287 square kilometers
of the Amazon were logged in a 12-month period.
Previous data showed clearing in the Amazon nearly doubled in the first
eight months of this year, compared with the same period in 2018, to 6,404
square kilometers.
The data’s announcement came after fires ravaged swaths of the rainforest
earlier this year, igniting a global outcry and diplomatic feud between
President Jair Bolsonaro and European leaders.
Far-right Bolsonaro is a proponent of developing agricultural and mining
activities in the Amazon, 60 percent of which lies in Brazil’s borders.
Faced with criticism over the fires and tree clearing, Bolsonaro accused
non-government organizations of starting the blazes, and France and others of
threatening Brazil’s sovereignty over the rainforest.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0903 hrs