The area of deforestation alerts in October was the largest for the month in five years, show data from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) released this Friday (11).
According to Inpe’s Deter system, 877 km² of Amazon forest were cut down, the highest number for October since the survey began in 2016. The rate was 5% above that of October 2020.
The number contradicts the speech of the Bolsonaro government, which, in meetings and lectures during COP26, stated that illegal deforestation was already being fought with increased resources and patrolling.
Sought to talk about the reason for the increase in deforestation, the Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, had not responded to the request by sheet until 11:30 am (local time, 8:30 am in Brazil).
The Brazilian delegation had been criticized by climate activists for not disclosing Prodes, official deforestation data, also measured by Inpe. Based on figures from August of one year to July of the following year, it is usually available in early November.
The lack of control over illegal logging of the forest could harm the negotiations made at the climate conference by Itamaraty, which was praised for adopting a more flexible position and seeking consensus that would allow concluding the regulation of the Paris Agreement.
“The emissions take place on the forest floor, not in the plenary sessions in Glasgow,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory. “And the forest floor is telling us that this government has no intention of fulfilling the commitments it signed at COP26.”
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