The Amazon had the second largest deforestation recorded in a month of May, according to data from Deter, a program run by Inpe (National Institute for Space Research). 899.64 km² of forest were cut down.
May 2021 —always compared to the same month in other years— is the destruction record, with 1,390 km² destroyed.
Despite the drop, the number is still significant for a single month, especially considering that the worst months of destruction are still ahead.
The state of Amazonas was the one that suffered the most deforestation in May, with 298 km² of deforestation.
Deter is Inpe’s program that records deforestation practically in real time, with the aim of assisting inspection teams in the fight against environmental crimes. Despite this, the data from Deter can be used to verify trends in destruction — which, at the moment, point to another year of high rates.
Deter’s recent historical series presented here begins in the 2015/2016 period.
The same month of May also had a high number of fires in the Amazon. It was the worst May of fires since 2004, with 2,287 fires recorded, an increase of 96% compared to the same month of 2021. It is the second highest number for a month of May. The first place is from 2004, when the number of outbreaks was 3,131.
Mariana Napolitano, science manager at WWF-Brazil, says that “despite all the scientific warnings, Brazil continues to go against the path of sustainable development”.
President Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally of agribusiness, has faced international criticism for a sharp increase in deforestation in the Amazon, often linked to the advance of agricultural exploitation and natural resources.
Since taking office in 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75% over the previous decade, according to official figures.
“Records of deforestation make it clear that an environmentally just and balanced future is increasingly distant,” added Napolitano, who criticized the “ineffectiveness” of current environmental policies.
