Deforestation falls 66% in the Amazon in August and rises 2% in the Cerrado – 09/08/2023 – Environment

While the Amazon, in August, had a significant reduction of 66% in deforestation, compared to the same month last year, the cerrado continues on a growth path in the clearing of native vegetation, this time, with a slight increase of 2% compared to last August, which was enough, however, to reach the second highest value of Deter’s historical average for the month.

In the Amazon case, 563.09 km² of deforestation were recorded last month, the lowest rate for August since 2019, which was the first year of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government and the month of August with the record for deforestation, according to recent historical series . In August 2022, the rate was 1661.02 km².

In the Cerrado, 462.72 km² of forest was felled, compared to 451.81 km² in August last year.

The data comes from the Deter program, from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), updated this Friday (8). Although Deter’s main function is to assist in actions to combat deforestation, its information can be used to check deforestation trends. Deter’s recent historical series begins in 2015 for the Amazon and 2018 for the cerrado.

The Amazon has been recording consecutive drops in deforestation since April. The positive data for the biome last August were announced during an event at Palácio do Planalto to celebrate Amazon Day, with the presence of President Lula (PT). On the same occasion, the president announced the demarcation of two indigenous lands, both in the Amazon, and a new program that provides for the transfer of up to R$600 million from the Amazon Fund to municipalities for actions to combat deforestation.

Under Bolsonaro, the level of deforestation in the Amazon had been critical. Even with the growing destruction, former president Bolsonaro, allies and supporters minimized the situation. The previous government also ended the PPCDAm (Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon), a program that had been of central importance in reducing forest destruction in previous years.

A new PPCDAm has already been announced by the Lula government.

In addition to deforestation, fires also had a significant drop compared to August last year. 17,373 hot spots were detected in the biome last month; in August 2022 there were 33,116, which means a reduction of 47%.

Cerrado continues to experience increasing deforestation

At the same time, however, the cerrado is experiencing a situation somewhat different from that seen in the Amazon. Since the beginning of the year, data on the devastation of the cerrado has, for the most part, been as high as or greater than that seen in recent years in the biome. Five months (February, April, May, July and August) exceeded deforestation in the same months last year. May, specifically, saw more than 1,300 km² of deforestation recorded, almost double what was seen in the same month of the previous year, and August broke a record.

Despite the growth in deforestation, fires in August had a considerable reduction compared to the same month of the previous year. Last month, 6,850 hot spots were recorded in the cerrado; in August last year, there were 10,567. A 35% reduction.

It is worth highlighting that the 2012 Forest Code points out different scenarios for the two biomes. Private properties in the Cerrado, a biome that concentrates intense agricultural activity, can deforest —after authorization by the competent environmental bodies— larger areas than permitted in the Amazon.

While in the Amazon, properties must keep 80% of the area of ​​private properties standing (what is called a legal reserve), for the cerrado this value is 20% or 35% (in the case of cerrado areas located in the Legal Amazon) .

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has held meetings with the states that make up the cerrado in search of developing proposals to reduce deforestation. The ministry also plans to launch the PPCerrado (Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Cerrado) in October.

Recently, when speaking about the subject, Marina Silva, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said that the situation in the cerrado is complex and raised the possibility of changing legislation for the biome.

“In the case of the cerrado, there is almost an accommodation, because you can explore [por lei] 80% [da floresta]. So science needs to say what the support base is and what the support base is [da exploração] of the biome”, said Marina.