Despite the Jair Bolsonaro administration’s promises to end illegal deforestation, the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon this year reached a level unseen since 2006.
According to a preliminary estimate by the National Institute of Spatial Research, or INPE, more than 13,000 square kilometers (5,019 sq mi) of forest, or an area roughly the size of the US state of Connecticut, was lost between August 2020 and July 2021. , which oversees the area using satellites.
The data, which shows that deforestation had increased by about 22% over the previous year, was published late on Thursday, just days after Brazil’s Environment Minister Joaquim Leit addressed rich countries at the COP26 summit. Exploded for spending too little to help protect the developing world. ,
Ever since Bolsonaro took over with a promise to open the Amazon to mining, farming and other development projects, InPay data show rainforest destruction has accelerated. This coincides with the defense of environmental agencies and the suspension of fines for crimes against the environment.
After the numbers were released, Leite announced measures to protect the forest, including the expansion of the so-called Guardians of the Biome operation, fighting deforestation.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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