This archive report was first published on 14 December 2019.
Published on December 14, 2019, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported a significant increase in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, with 563 square kilometers cleared in November.
This is the highest number for any November since 2015, and a notable increase during the rainy season when deforestation typically slows.
For the first 11 months of the year, deforestation totaled 8,974.3 square kilometers, nearly twice the 4,878.7 square kilometers reported for the same period in 2018.
The data was collected by the satellite-based DETER system, which monitors deforestation in real-time.
Another satellite-based system, PRODES, reported that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon had passed the 10,000 square kilometer threshold for the first time since 2008, with a 43 percent increase from the preceding 12-month period.
Deforestation in indigenous areas rose even faster, by 74.5 percent from the preceding period, INPE reported.
On Friday, Ricardo Galvao, INPE's former president, was named one of the 10 most important scientists of the year by the respected British journal Nature, just days after being fired by the Bolsonaro government, which accused him of exaggerating the extent of deforestation.
