In the last 12 months, 9,762 km² of forests were cut down in the Amazon, the largest area since 2008. The information, released by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), was based on data from Prodes (Brazilian Amazon Forest Satellite Monitoring Program). The increase in the deforestation rate was 29.5% in 12 months.
“The PRODES figures confirm what DETER and independent systems have already been pointing out: deforestation has been growing rapidly and, if the Federal Government does not profoundly change its stance on the issue, it is likely to grow even more next year, causing the country to set back 30 years in terms of protecting the Amazon,” says Mauricio Voivodic, executive director of WWF-Brazil.
According to the Alert System of Imazon, the forest lost 802 km² in September 2019, which is equivalent to more than half the area of the city of São Paulo compared to the same month in 2018. An increase of 80%. The states where the most deforestation occurred were Pará (53%), Rondônia (13%), Amazonas (11%), Acre (11%), Mato Grosso (10%) and Roraima (2%).
Imazon associates deforestation with the process of clear-cutting (complete removal of trees). Most of the time, the deforested area is converted into pasture. Degradation, on the other hand, is the extraction of trees, usually for the commercialization of timber, or forest fires.
Be Nice to the Amazon
With the growing environmental problems in the Amazon, Coalition Brazil Climate, Forests and Agriculture in conjunction with the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag); Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (ABIEC); Association of Cocoa Processing Industries (AIPC); Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS); Sustainable Livestock Working Group (GTPS); Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá); Amazon Institute of Man and Environment (Imazon); Ethos Institute; Amazon Research Institute (Ipam) and Brazilian Rural Society (SRB) carries out the Be nice to the Amazon Campaign.
The #SejaLegalcomaAmazonia campaign focuses on combating land grabbing and illegal occupation of public lands in the biome, which includes indigenous territories, conservation units and non-designated forests – that is, those that belong to the Union but are not specifically used.
The website becoolwithamazonia.com.br shows the main objectives of the campaign, which calls for effective measures from public authorities to address challenges such as resolving land conflicts.
The campaign also seeks to raise awareness and mobilize the population about this problem, which affects the entire society. On the website, it is possible to sign a manifesto and send it by email to the Attorney General of the Republic and the Minister of Justice, asking for support for measures to combat these illegalities in the Amazon.
CEBDS advocates the improvement of control and monitoring systems to eliminate illegal deforestation in the short term in the Amazon and in all biomes, and reduce legal deforestation.
“Most of the deforestation in the Amazon is illegal. We need to monitor it. Deforestation is not good business for us. We lose a lot with illegal deforestation. You are allowing something that is giving you zero value to disrupt an entire forestry industry that Brazil is currently a champion in. Suzano, for example, is a major Brazilian and global company. It exports its products. If it is done sustainably, everyone wins. agribusiness “Seriously, sustainably, it is extremely important for the economy. It is not about thinking about selling commodities purely and simply. It is about selling with added value”, says the president of CEBDS, Marina Grossi.
