Amazon deforestation in Brazil remains near 15-year high
Closely-watched numbers for annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon show the total area of forest loss is down somewhat from last year, but that was a 15-year high
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon slowed slightly last year, a year after a 15-year high, according to closely watched numbers published Wednesday. The data was released by the National Institute for Space Research.
The agency’s Prodes monitoring system shows the rainforest lost an area roughly the size of Qatar, some 11,600 square kilometers (4,500 square miles) in the 12 months from August 2021 to July 2022.
That is down 11% compared to the previous year, when over 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) were destroyed.
For more than a decade it looked as though things were getting better for the Brazilian Amazon. Deforestation had declined dramatically and never rose back above 10,000 square kilometers. That was before the presidency of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, beginning in January 2019.
