A disturbing record. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached an unprecedented rate in the first half of 2022, according to official data released on Friday.
The figures are dizzying: over the first six months of the year, the largest tropical forest on the planet saw 3,750 km2 of vegetation go up in smoke. A level not reached since this data began to be compiled by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) via the Deter satellite monitoring system, in 2016. The year 2022 also broke the deforestation record for a month. January, when it is the wet season when fires are normally less numerous.
The number of fire starts recorded by the INPE in June is the highest since 2007, with 2,562 homes. A total of 7,533 outbreaks have been recorded since the start of the year, the worst number since 2010 and up 17% from last year.
“An environmental disaster”
“The dry season has only just begun in the Amazon and we are already breaking records for environmental destruction”lamented Cristiane Mazzetti, of the Brazilian branch of Greenpeace. “We have been witnessing an environmental disaster in recent years”added Mariana Napolitano, of WWF-Brazil, who warned against the“increasing impact on the resilience of these ecosystems, with great harm to local communities”. The Amazon is even approaching a “tipping point“that could turn it into a savannah, according to a study published in March
Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is the target of much criticism from the international community for his environmental policies. Ecologists accuse him of favoring the impunity of gold panners, farmers or timber traffickers who practice illegal deforestation, including in protected areas. The main public environmental protection body spent only 41% of its budget allocated to monitoring in 2021, according to the NGO collective Observatoire du Climat.