The Amazon has never lost so many trees as in September
Forest clearance in the Brazilian Amazon.
©AFP / Antonio Scorza
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Record deforestation is officially recorded in what is considered one of the lungs of the planet: 1455 km² have been razed.
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Deforestation in the Amazon reached 1,455 km² in September, a record for this month of the year, according to official data published on Friday which suggests that 2022 could exceed the historic record for Jair Bolsonaro's first year in office.
The deforested area in the Brazilian part of the world's largest tropical forest has increased by 48% compared to September 2021, according to the satellite monitoring system of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
Deforestation also slightly exceeded the deforestation record recorded for a month of September (1,454 km2) dating from 2019, according to INPE, which set up this monitoring system in 2015. From January to
the end of September "deforestation is already higher 4.5% to that of the whole of 2021
”, indicated the NGO Observatoire du Climat, suggesting the possibility that the historic record for deforestation, recorded in 2019, with 9178 km2, will be reached or even exceeded.
According to some experts, deforestation and forest fires are intensifying this year because the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro could be beaten in the second round of the presidential election by the left-wing ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
+75% in a decade
Lula promises to be more rigorous in the preservation of the Amazon, more than 60% of which is located in Brazilian territory.
“
Anyone who values the future of the forest, the lives of indigenous peoples and the possibility of having a still inhabitable planet, should vote to oust Bolsonaro from the presidency on October 30,
” Marcio Astrani said. , executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, in a press release.
Although his record during his two terms of office (2003-2010) is far from satisfactory, Lula has promised an increase in the objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the framework of the Paris Agreements, the revival of the Amazon Fund supplemented by international funding for the protection of the forest and the fight against deforestation.
Since Jair Bolsonaro came to power in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.
The outgoing president favored mining and agriculture (crops, livestock) in the Amazon, to the detriment of the forest.
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To read also: Brazil: deforestation in the Amazon records a record increase
(With AFP)
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Brazil
Environment
Jair Bolsonaro