Deforestation in the Amazon last August exploded compared to the same month last year. 1,661 km² of forest were felled, an increase of 81% compared to 2021 data. The value is the second highest in the recent history of the biome, second only to August 2019, the first year of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government.
The data refer to Deter, a program run by Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) that aims to help environmental inspection work through deforestation warnings. The project started in 2004 and in 2015 there was an improvement in deforestation detection sensors. For this reason, Deter’s recent history begins in August 2015.
It wasn’t just deforestation that saw considerable growth last month. The fires also left their mark. The Amazon had the month of August with the most fires since 2010. In the 31 days of the month, 33,116 fires were registered, which represents an increase of 18% compared to August 2021, according to Inpe data.
Deforestation and fires go hand in hand. Deforesters (generally, land grabbers and rural producers) cut down the forest, let it dry on the ground and, during the dry period in the biome (which is happening now), use fire to “clean” the area.
The fire situation in September is already more critical than it was last year, according to Inpe data. The data is updated daily and, in eight days, points to more than 20,000 fires, a figure that is already higher than the entire month of September 2019 and 2021, considering only the period of the current government.
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