The devastation in the Amazon is more than 15 years old

Deforestation in the Brazilian part of the Amazon rainforest between August last year and July this year increased by about 22 percent, compared to the same period the previous year. This means that the rate of destruction has reached its highest level in 15 years, according to state authorities.

A total of 13,325 square kilometers of rainforest disappeared during the twelve-month period 2020-2021, the largest area since 14,286 square kilometers were destroyed in 2005-2006, according to an estimate by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) that analyzes but not all of He gets his dreams fulfilled.

Since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, annual deforestation in the Amazon has increased every year, but his government has recently sought to strengthen its positions on environmental policy.

– This is the real Brazil that the Bolsonaro government is trying to hide with wonderful speeches, says Mauricio Vojvodik, president of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Brazil.

Bolsonaro recently promised to eradicate illegal destruction by 2028, but at the same time he supports the development of agriculture and mining in the Amazon region, for example, and has been behind legislative measures easing protections for the land.

Last week, the National Institute for Space Research announced that October of this year was the worst on record and that an area of ​​up to half of the city of Rio de Janeiro was cut off.

The government’s environment minister, Joachim Leit, acknowledges the new figures are a challenge and promises to take a tougher stance against environmental crime. The government says it has increased the number of troops in the forest to combat illegal destruction.