Satellite data shows surge in Amazon forestry loss

PRELIMINARY government data released yesterday has raised concern that the coming dry season will see even more deforestation of Brazil’s Amazon than last year’s surge of cutting.

The area deforested in May, determined based on satellite images, jumped 41 per cent compared to the same month in 2020, according to daily alerts compiled by the National Institute for Space Research’s Deter monitoring system.

That data is considered a reliable leading indicator for more complete calculations released at year end.

May marks the beginning of the dry season in the Amazon, when deforestation tends to spike. Deforestation in the month reached 1180 square kilometres, the most for any May in at least five years. April and March figures also topped all prior readings for those respective months since the 2015-2016 start of the data series.

The data comes as President Jair Bolsonaro’s government faces heightened scrutiny and scepticism regarding his recent pledges to rein in deforestation, and as officials including his environment minister are under investigation for possibly facilitating the export of illegally cut timber.

A separate probe is investigating whether Environment Minister Ricardo Salles obstructed an operation to seize illegal timber; he has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

The Climate Observatory, a network of environmental nonprofits warned that the data released yesterday marks a worrisome start to the dry season that is worst between June and August.

‘‘If the trend continues over the next two months, the official deforestation rate in 2021 could end with an unprecedented rise,’’ the group said in a statement. Deforestation last year surged to a level unseen since 2008.

The annual deforestation tally, compiled with a more accurate system called Prodes, uses at least four different satellites to capture images.