According to a new report from Amnesty, almost 500 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared between August 2018 and July 2019. They describe how poor people cut down trees, burn the ground and sow grass for grazing. Then they sell the land to cattle breeders. The meat from the animals then enters the world's largest meat producer JBS's food chain. This opens up a discussion about consumer boycotts of Brazilian goods. SVT's Latin America correspondent Tigran Feiler is not surprised by the content of the report.

- It further confirms that economic interests, mainly livestock, are expanding into nature reserves and indigenous protected areas. What the report does is that it gives a systematic picture of how it goes, he says.

The image of Brazil is negatively affected

International attention is problematic for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He came to power with great support from the emergency lobby, which wants large areas of land in the Amazon to be "economically active". But now there is criticism from a number of large investors, including the Swedish Fifth AP Fund, which threatens to de-invest in the country if the issues are not taken seriously. Even 36 heavy Brazilian companies demand in a call that Bolsonaro should change the policy around the Amazon. 

- They are starting to worry that they will be affected financially by the fact that the image of Brazil abroad is negatively affected by what is happening in the Amazon. And there is also increased pressure for the Minister of the Environment to be replaced, says Tigran Feiler. 

Minister of the Environment in focus

The Minister of the Environment has been debated since a recording was leaked in which he said that Brazil should use the media focus on the corona crisis to change the regulatory area around environmental and climate policy. 

- Several business leaders now believe that the Minister of the Environment lacks trust and credibility in this matter, says Tigran Feiler. 

Breakpoint: rainforest can become savannah

Amnesty describes the devastation as increasing pressure on the indigenous people, who have lived in the Amazon for thousands of years. They are exposed to violence and threats when they try to defend their land. The devastation also has enormous consequences for the environment. 

- Researchers show that the Amazon is on its way to a turning point where the entire rainforest ecosystem changes forever, and the rainforest turns into savannah. These are dramatic changes and impacts all over the world's climate because the Amazon is by far the world's largest reindeer forest and has a unique biological diversity, says Tigran Feiler.