Amazon deforestation in Brazil declines 5.46% through July; annual rate is 2nd worst

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to the Deter-B data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), deforestation warnings in the juridical Amazon reached 8,712 km² in the period from August 2020 to July 2021.

This figure is slightly lower (-5.46%) than the previous period of 9,216 km². There is little reason to celebrate, as the rate is lower but still high.

This year’s result is the second-worst since the beginning of the Deter-B series, introduced six years ago. It’s only lower than last year’s result. The data is important because it indicates the deforestation trend and marks the official figure from the Prodes system, published at the end of the year.

Vice President Hamilton Mourão, president of the Amazon Law Council, said Monday that the decrease would be around 5%, not the 12% he had expected due to the new use of measures within Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) against environmental crimes. “I think it will be between 4% and 5%, a minimal reduction,” he told the press.

In July – until July 30 – the tinders reached 1,416.78 km², less than in July 2020 (1,658.97 km²).

Pará state has been the record holder for several years, but Amazonas was one of the region’s best-protected states until recently. Pará state had the most deforestation (3,499 km²), followed by Amazonas (1,693 km²). Mato Grosso is in third place (1,475 km²). There, the devastation is increasing.

A release from the Observatory for Climate, a network of 66 environmental organizations and social movements founded in 2002, points out that analysis by alert category shows that mining devastated 125 km² in 2021, the largest number since the series began. The record coincides with the discussion in Congress of the bill to release mining on indigenous lands.

Forest degradation – where some vegetation is removed – also reached a record 6,062 km² in 2021, the highest level since 2017.