After 15 consecutive months of decline, deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is on the rise again, according to preliminary data provided by the Ministry of Environment and Science. Reuters.
In July, the ministry recorded 666 square kilometers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, 500 square kilometers more than a year ago. The 6.7 million square kilometers of forest, 60 percent of which is located in Brazil, is considered an important carbon sink for the planet.
Joao Capobianco, Brazil’s deputy environment minister, said a number of factors were contributing to the upward trend, including severe drought in the region, an ongoing strike by environmental workers demanding higher wages and better working conditions, and upcoming municipal elections, factors that are often associated with increased levels of damage.
[See more: Lula hopes to reverse the deforestation that took place under his predecessor]
This is the first time that deforestation has increased in Brazil since shortly after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in March 2023. Despite the recent increase, deforestation rates under Lula remained much lower than those under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Capobianco said deforestation fell 46% year-on-year between August 2023 and July 2024 — the “largest proportional drop ever recorded for that period” since tracking began in 2016.
Lula pledges to end deforestation by 2030 Announce Earlier this year, the Brazilian government announced a major multinational investment to help it police the rainforest. The new International Police Cooperation Center brings together eight South American countries in the Amazon region, as well as organizations such as Interpol, AmeriPol and Europol, with a focus on sharing intelligence and combating a variety of transnational crimes, including illegal logging.
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