May 17, 2022

10:05

Fábio Leite – From Cenarium

MANAUS – A historical increase in the deforestation of the Amazon Forest was registered in April of this year. An area of 1,954 km² was deforested in the Amazon region in the first four months of 2022, according to the alert system of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe). This number is 69% higher compared to the same period in 2021, when the mark was 1,153 km².

One of the Amazon states with the highest deforestation rate is Amazonas, with 29%. Among the federal government’s actions to curb deforestation in the region are Operation Guardians of the Biome and actions by the Federal Police together with the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMbio). For environmentalist Carlos Durigan, the containment actions of the environmental agencies and the federal government are not having any effect.

“From what we are seeing from the deforestation data released both by Inpe and Imazon [Amazon Institute of Man and the Environment], deforestation in April hit a new historical record, which means that public policies aimed at sustainable regional development and, at the same time, actions to contain environmental crimes have not been working,” said the expert.

In the Legal Amazon, Mato Grosso was the state that suffered most from deforested areas in the Amazon Forest in April, with 31%. Followed by Amazonas and then Pará, with 20%. The data are from Imazon’s Deforestation Alert System (SAD). There was also an increase in the alert register in an area of 1,012 km² in the Amazon, an advance of 75% compared to the same month last year, which was 580 km².

“What is known, in general, is that the increase in deforestation is directly related to the illegal occupation of public lands, and the lack of implementation of the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) and the Forest Code, in its fullness, also contributes, and not monitoring the coverage of legal reserves in private properties, further aggravates the situation, because there is also an increase in deforestation in these areas,” explains the environmentalist.

The increase in deforestation is “directly related to the current management [federal government], which chose to destructure the institutions responsible for monitoring, protection and public policies,” says Durigan, who then stresses actions to contain forest destruction. “I believe that for this process to be contained it is necessary to reestablish the PPCDAM [Program of Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon] and, also, a firmer policy of implementation of what is recommended by the National Forest Code.

Concern

The specialist sees with concern, in the view of the increase of deforestation, the constant attacks that the Manaus Free Trade Zone (MFTZ) has been suffering with the repeated federal decrees that took away the competitiveness of the economic model of development of the Amazon economy. For now, the decrees have no effect, after the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, suspended in an injunction.

“The rupture of this model, in an abrupt and unplanned manner, may generate even greater pressure on the natural landscapes of the Amazon, since in the absence of prospects, part of the population may end up engaging in degrading and even illegal economic activities. This is a trend that can already be observed in the region, since we have gone through a period of strong economic crisis, and without the MFTz, this scenario that we are currently experiencing would be even worse,” concluded Carlos Durigan.

Acre registers an increase

Acre lost an area equivalent to 10% more than what was deforested in the same period last year. In April 2021, the area affected by deforestation in the state was 10 km², in April this year it became 11 km². The data are from Imazon’s Deforestation Alert System (SAD).