A fire-destroyed area in the state of Mato Grosso. Deforestation is causing the Amazon to become a vulnerable region, with negative impacts on biodiversity, climate regulation, and precipitation. Photo: EFE.
Amazon deforestation under the government of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, which began in 2019 and will end within eight days, has increased by 94 percent, compared to the years before his administration, according to a study.
In its annual report, the Environmental Social Institute asserted that the Bolsonaro administration “means the biggest environmental setback of the century, with a 94 percent increase in deforestation compared to the years before his administration.”
According to the data of a non-governmental organization (NGO), the main reason for the sudden increase is directly related to the dismantling of environmental management bodies.
In addition, the strike affected the demarcation of indigenous lands and the business of selling large territorial extensions to transnational corporations.
The study reported a deforestation rate of 157 percent on indigenous lands, as part of Bolsonaro’s administration reinforcing environmental illegality on ancestral lands.
He added that the balance of deforestation in protected areas in Bolsonaro’s government “has a catastrophic balance.”
“Data from Brodes shows that these areas are under severe pressure and that the increase in forest degradation on indigenous lands has reached 157 percent,” he noted.
See also: http://www.cubadebate.cu/fotorreportajes/2019/08/22/alarma-tambien-en-onu-por-incendios-en-la-selva-amazonica/
(with information from Granma)
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