This week the Brazilian National Institute of Space Research published their latest figures on Amazon rainforest deforestation and the trees are falling as fast as the FTSE.
According to the institute, deforestation in August was three times higher than the same period last year. Using satellite imagery they have reported that 756 km2 were destroyed – that’s twice the rate of deforestation in July.
The Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc said that the upcoming national elections were partly to blame with mayors in the Amazon taking a soft stance on illegal logging in hopes of gaining more votes. It’s true that there is a lack of governance in the region which permits further destruction and we want to see financing policies in place that invest in responsible forest activities rather than funding destructive practices.
Our team on the ground in the Amazon documented forests being burned to the ground for cattle ranching with a live webcast last month. And cattle ranching is the main activity in the municipalities where there are higher deforestation rates. With food prices rising and an election on the horizon, the appetite of authorities to enforce laws has been reduced. But the federal government has to step in and do its job.
And it appears Minister Minc is confronting those responsible. The environment minister released a list of the top 100 worst forest destroyers on Monday, and oddly, or perhaps unsurprisingly given Brazilian politics, a government agency was listed as one of the leading forces of forest destruction.
The government’s land and agrarian reform agency Incra is responsible for the government's land reform programme. Greenpeace campaigners have collected evidence that shows Incra has worked with logging companies to place new settlements where loggers can get access to sough-after timber and Minister Minc Minc says Incra is responsible for destroying 544,000 acres of the Amazon in the past three years.
Minc says the environment ministry will bring criminal charges against all of the 100.
