With world distracted, the Amazon rainforest continues to burn
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit a new high in the first four months of this year, with 1,202 square kilometres of forest wiped out
- That was a 55 per cent increase from the same period last year, and the highest figure for the first four months of the year since records began
It has not got much attention with the world focused on coronavirus, but deforestation has surged in the Amazon rainforest this year, raising fears of a repeat of last year’s record-breaking devastation – or worse.
A total of 1,202 square kilometres of forest – an area more than 20 times the size of Manhattan – was wiped out in the Brazilian Amazon from January to April, it found.
That was a 55 per cent increase from the same period last year, and the highest figure for the first four months of the year since monthly records began in August 2015.
The numbers raise new questions about how well Brazil is protecting its share of the world’s biggest rainforest under President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right climate change sceptic who advocates opening protected lands to mining and farming.