Brazilian Amazon Deforestation Rate Accelerates

The financial bonanza of raising biofuel crops such as soya has caused accelerated the Amazon’s deforestation. From August to December 2007, 1,250 square miles of Brazil’s forestland were lost to biofuel farmers.

The news of the accelerated forest depletion rate reverses initial success by the Brazilian government to halt the denudation. According to Gilberto Camara of INPE, the satellite imaging service provider for Brazil’s Amazon area, the rate of loss was unprecedented at this time of the year.
Camara and Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva, in a press conference on Wednesday, revealed the monthly rate of deforestation leapfrogged to 366 square miles (948 sq km) in December from only 94 sq m (243 sq km) in August.

The worst effect was in the state of Mato Grosso where 700 square miles (1,786 sq km) of forestlands were lost. Silva said as the prices of raw materials and commodities continually rise, more farmers turn to the Amazon as a source of cheap land.

“The economic reality of these states indicate that these activities impact, without a shadow of a doubt, on the forest,” Silva said.

AHN