On Friday (19) President Jair Bolsonaro minimized deforestation data in the Amazon region, stating that these numbers refer to the part of the forest previously lost and that has already regenerated. Bolsonaro also said that the warnings of desertification in the Amazon are “the same old syrup”.
Bolsonaro’s speech comes a day after the revelation that the federal government withheld the release of deforestation data, so as not to increase criticism from Brazil during the holding of COP 26.
Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) concluded the deforestation data for the Amazon on October 27 and inserted the report into the federal government’s electronic information system on the same day, according to institute sources consulted by sheet.
The document was only released this Thursday (18). The report with data from Prodes (Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon by Satellite) shows a devastation of 13,235 km2 between August 2020 and July 2021, the highest rate since 2006. The number represents an increase of 22% compared to the previous period.
Without presenting any scientific evidence, Bolsonaro said the deforestation data are the result of areas that were previously destroyed but that regenerated.
“If every year what the press shows were deforested, the entire Amazon would already be a desert,” stated the president, during his weekly broadcast on social networks. This was the president’s first speech after returning from a trip to the Middle East.
“Two, three years go by, the guy deforests again. It’s the same green area and enters as new deforestation. If you take the area deforested year after year, it’s an area larger than the Amazon, taking into account the last 20 years there,” he added.
Bolsonaro also came to ironize recent studies that show that the Amazon may be reaching an irreversible point in relation to deforestation, which could result in the region’s desertification. The president took to his broadcast a report from 1985, out of context, to say that previous warnings did not materialize. Said it was “the same syrup as ever”.
“Look at the article now: ‘Amazon is close to an irreversible point and could turn into a desert’. The same syrup as always. This article is mostly sponsored by Brazilians, who are working against their country,” he added.
The president also repeated that he is “a laughingstock”, but again defended his argument that the Amazon does not catch fire, as it is a humid forest. He said that the fires only happen in the periphery and that everything would be resolved with his land regularization bill – which did not go forward and environmentalists pointed out that it would encourage new advances in the green area.
The Chief Executive revealed that he had even talked to a foreigner at Lisbon airport, who had charged him for the high rate of destruction of Brazilian forests. He said that a “little dwarf” charged him for deforestation in the Amazon and heard an answer that he could not repeat on a live broadcast.
He reported that the episode took place while visiting a free-shop at Lisbon airport, but that he did not shop because everything was too expensive – without commenting on the sharp devaluation of the real.
Bolsonaro also said that “very bad Brazilians” go abroad to criticize the country and that this affects Brazilian investments.
“While we struggle like a disgrace to take Brazil’s good name abroad, terrible Brazilians go out to criticize Brazil. Talking lies about the Amazon, for example. There are some guys out there who seem to enjoy going abroad and say ‘they’re setting fire to the Amazon'”, he added.
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