The brazilian amazon lost 329 kilometers of vegetation cover in April, an area 67.9% lower than that of the same month of 2022 (1,026 square kilometers) and the smallest for the month in the last three years, reported this Friday the Government.
The deforested area in the Brazilian part of the largest rain forest in the world in the first four months of the year was 1,173 kilometers square, with a reduction of 40.4% compared to the same period last year (1,968 square kilometers), according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Space Studies (INPE).
Despite the fact that data of the Amazon deforestation alert system show a reduction in the destroyed area, the devastation in the fiscal year, which runs from August 2022 to July 2023indicate a cumulative deforestation of 5,977 square kilometers up to April, the highest for the period in nine years.
“This year’s data does not indicate that the deforestation be less. On the contrary, the alert areas accumulated in the fiscal year, at least until April, are the largest since the devastation began to be measured in 2015,” warned the Greenpeace spokesperson for the Amazon, Romulo Batista.
According to this environmental organization, the effective decrease of deforestation will depend on what the Government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvawho took office in January, can do until July in defense of what is considered the largest lung on the planet.
greenpeace recognized that the reduction in deforestation in the first months of this year can be attributed to some initiatives already adopted by the government of the progressive leader, such as increased inspection, restructuring of environmental defense and the campaigns against mining and illegal logging.
The Brazilian Amazon last year lost a record 10,278 square kilometers of plant cover.
Its deforestation jumped almost 60% in the four years of the Government of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) compared to the previous four-year period due to the lack of controls and the weakening of environmental bodies, according to environmental organizations.
The advance of the devastation in the last four years was also attributed to the anti-environmental discourse of the far-right leader, who defended the exploitation of natural resources in the jungle, even in indigenous reserves.
The recovery of the Amazon is one of the main commitments of Lula, who in his first month in office reactivated the Amazon Fund and revoked controversial Bolsonaro measures.