This archive report was first published on 10 July 2020.
As the dry season sets in, Brazil's Amazon rainforest has witnessed a devastating 25% increase in deforestation, with a staggering 3,069 square kilometers affected, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). This marks the highest figure since satellite data collection began in 2015.
June, which typically marks the start of the dry season and fires, has also seen a record 1,034 square kilometers of deforestation, representing an 11% increase.
The alarming rate of deforestation has drawn criticism from numerous countries and environmental groups, who have long been concerned about the large-scale destruction of the world's largest rainforest.
"Last year it just took off, and this should not be repeated," said Mariana Napolitano, science director for the World Wildlife Fund-Brazil, in a statement to AFP. "But not only is it repeating, it's getting worse, despite military action in the region," she added.
The main causes of destruction are attributed to illegal logging by the timber industry, as well as mining and cattle ranching in protected areas.
President Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic, has been accused of facilitating farming and mining projects on protected land and indigenous reserves.
Despite deploying troops in the Amazon ahead of the burning season to take "preventive and restrictive action against environmental crimes, namely illegal deforestation and wildfires," INPE data shows an increase in deforestation for each month since January, compared to the same period last year.
Investor pressure is mounting, with investment funds from Europe, Asia, and South America collectively managing nearly $4 billion demanding that Bolsonaro stop projects that threaten the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
"It's not true that we're destroying the jungle to produce food," Vice President Hamilton Mourao said, denying that Brazil was dismantling the state's environmental protection structure.
However, non-governmental organizations point out that the right-wing government's discourse in favor of the Amazon's commercial exploitation contradicts the military mission of inspection and prevention.
"The outlook cannot be to control deforestation with a huge military operation. What we are seeing is pressure from the private sector for a different plan for the Amazon," Napolitano said.
