March 19, 2022

09:03

Iury Lima – Cenarium Magazine

VILHENA (RO) – Even being the shortest month of the year, February ended with an extremely negative balance for the largest tropical forest on the planet, which has been losing its more than 5 million square kilometers, year after year, at an accelerated pace. In just 28 days, a wound the size of Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará, was opened in the Amazon; a destruction of 303 square kilometers of native forest, according to the Institute of Man and Environment of the Amazon (Imazon).

The study was released this Friday, 18, and reveals that this was the worst February, in 15 years, for Brazil’s largest biome. “One year after reaching the largest deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest in at least 14 years, Brazil is heading for a new negative record of deforestation in 2022,” the institute warns.

A wound that won’t heal

The deforestation of the Amazon has been so increasing that it resembles an open wound that is difficult to heal. In the comparison made by Imazon, between February this year and the same period in 2021, the increase in the loss of virgin forest was 69%. Last year, February ended with 179 square kilometers of trees and vegetation uprooted.

February was, therefore, the second month in 2022 in which deforestation showed an increase compared to the monthly rates in 2021: in January, the clearing of forests was 33% higher than in the previous year. 

For Imazon researcher Larissa Amorim, besides indicating “an intense pace”, the increase in the biome’s destruction rates is “quite worrying”. “Mainly because we are in a period where destruction is usually lower due to the occurrence of rainfall and, therefore, the high deforestation rates are not identified in the monitoring”, Amorim explained to CENARIUM. 

“Besides the destruction of natural resources, deforestation contributes to global warming which, in turn, drives climate change, which is responsible for prolonged droughts and intense rains, for example; something that has been quite common, in the country, in recent times”, the researcher warned.

The ‘Trinity’ of deforestation

Three states that make up the Amazon region stand out with the highest rates of deforestation: Mato Grosso, with 32%, Pará, with 27%, and Amazonas, with 24%. The list follows with Rondônia, Maranhão, Roraima and Acre, respectively. Tocantins and Amapá appeared with no record of destruction rates.

Deforestation rate in February

State – Deforestation rate in February

• Mato Grosso – 32%
  
• Pará – 27%
  
• Amazonas – 24%
  
• Rondônia – 10%
  
• Maranhão – 3%
  
• Roraima – 3%
  
• Acre – 1%

Mato Grosso, Pará and Amazonas lead the deforestation ranking (Source: Imazon)

“If governments do not take effective action to combat deforestation, unfortunately, Brazil will be heading towards a new negative record in the year 2022. This is very worrying, because in 2021 we already had the largest devastated area in the last 14 years”, said Larissa Amorim. 

Fiscalization and punishment

Even though halting deforestation is an extremely difficult and audacious goal, the Imazon researcher says what can be done to reduce the destruction rates of the Amazon Forest: “it is necessary to intensify inspection actions, prioritizing those areas that are most critical in relation to devastation”, she suggested, adding that it is also necessary to identify and punish those responsible for the devastation. 

“Thus, we will be able to ensure compliance with environmental laws and minimize the growing destruction in the region”, concluded the specialist.