“Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell 34 percent in the first half of 2023, preliminary government data shows, hitting its lowest level in four years as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva institutes tougher environmental policies.” – Aljazeera
The rate of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has raised alarms as the rainforest was reported to have shrunk by 2,649 sq km just between January-June. Reports also stated that the area of rainforest lost under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s term is more than three times the size of New York City.
“We have reached a steady downward trend in deforestation of the Amazon,” Environment Minister Marina Silva told reporters. In June alone, satellite monitoring detected 3,075 fires in the Amazon – the highest number since 2007. Many of the blazes which release vast amounts of carbon emissions – were linked to the clearing of previously deforested areas.
Although a political pledge to end deforestation was made by world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021. The rate of deforestation around the world has continued to surge. In April, research by the Global Forest Watch monitoring network showed that an area of tropical forest the size of Switzerland was lost last year around the world as tree clearance surged. It said that some 11 football pitches of forest were lost every minute in 2022, with Brazil dominating the destruction.
