MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil tops list of deforestation-hit countries, study shows

During the first two terms of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), in the 2000s, the loss of forests had decreased considerably

According to a survey released Tuesday by Global Forest Watch (GFW), a forest monitoring platform developed by the University of Maryland, Brazil has lost 1.8 million hectares of primary rainforests, mostly in the Amazon, a 15% increase between 2021 and 2022, thus topping the list of nations in such a situation, followed by the Republic of Congo, Bolivia, Indonesia, and Peru.

The increase in deforestation in Brazil was registered during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, which, according to the study, has caused a decrease in state environmental protection, destruction of inspection agencies, and attempts to give amnesty to illegal deforestation, besides the decrease of indigenous rights. Another point of the research is the increase in deforestation in the country from 2016, the year in which Michel Temer assumed the presidency. Most of the damage was not caused by wildfires, as is more frequent in the country, but by deforestation, reaching its highest level since 2005.

GFW's analysis also shows that during the first two terms of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), in the 2000s, the loss of forests had decreased considerably. The PT president, who returned to power this year, committed himself to “zero deforestation” of the Amazon and other biomes by 2030, which he has reinforced several times, most recently over the weekend during the “Power Our Planet” music festival on Campo de Mars in Paris.

Also according to the University of Maryland research, tropical forests around the world will lose 10% more primary forest area in 2022 when compared to 2021. Most of the overall damage was also not the result of wildfires, but deforestation for agriculture and logging, as well as natural causes such as wind and river detours.

In a three-year comparison, there was a 30 percent decrease in tree canopy globally, with Russia accounting for 34% less tree cover on its territory between 2021 and 2022.