Deforestation alerts in Brazil’s Amazon rise

RIO DE JANEIRO – The number of deforestation alerts in the Brazilian Amazon rose for the second straight month compared to last year, ending a streak of encouraging data at a moment when the government has promised to curb illegal logging.

Alerts in October corresponded to 339 square miles, the highest indicator for the month in five years and 4.9% more than for the same month in 2020, according to daily alerts compiled by the the Brazilian space agency’s Deter monitoring system that were released Friday. September registered 2.3% more alerts than the same month last year.

That data is considered a leading indicator for complete calculations released near yearend from the more accurate system, Prodes.

The increases follow two months of sharp decreases that had prompted enthusiasm from officials in the government of President Jair Bolsonaro. Environmental groups warned that it was too early to consider that data a trend.

The new data comes at a moment Brazil’s government has been trying to improve its reputation on environmental issues. At the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, Environment Minister Joaquim Leite announced Wednesday a target of zero illegal logging by 2028 – pushing up the goal of 2030 that Bolsonaro presented at the White House-led climate summit in April.

“We are committed to stop illegal deforestation in the Amazon,” Leite said Wednesday. His ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the October increase in deforestation alerts.

At the United Nations in September, Bolsonaro credited his administration’s redoubled efforts for the plunge of alerts the prior month. But the accumulated deforestation alerts in 2021 have been essentially flat compared to last year, according to the preliminary data.

Before Bolsonaro took office in 2019, the Brazilian Amazon hadn’t recorded a single year with more than 10,000 square kilometers of deforestation in over a decade. Between 2009 and 2018, the average per year was 6,500 square kilometers. It averaged 10,500 square kilometers in the first two full years of Bolsonaro’s term.

Bolsonaro has raised concerns among environmentalists by calling for development within the Amazon region and dismissing global complaints about its destruction as a plot to hold back the nation’s agribusiness. His administration also has defanged environmental authorities.