Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon decreased by 66 percent in August compared to the same month last year. The government announced this on Tuesday. It claims that this result, which confirms last month’s figures, is an indication of the effectiveness of its environmental policy.
And in July, the Space Research Institute had already recorded a 66 percent decrease in deforestation. The results are even more convincing because they were recorded during the dry season, when deforestation is generally highest.
Satellite data shows that 473.5 square kilometers of forest were cleared between August 1 and 25, compared to 1,661 square kilometers during the entire month of the previous year under Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency. Under the far-right president, deforestation in the Amazon has increased by 75 percent compared to the average in the past decade.
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His left-wing successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who actually led the country from 2003 to 2010, began his third term in January by promising to make Amazon conservation a priority and do everything he can to stamp out illegal deforestation by 2030. .
“These results show the Lula government’s determination to break the cycle of neglect and decline of the previous government,” Environment Minister Marina Silva said after announcing the results.
“If we do not protect the forest and its inhabitants, we will condemn the world to a sharp increase in carbon dioxide emissions and thus an acceleration of climate change,” she added at a ceremony marking Amazon Day.
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