Amazon Deforestation Sets High Record In April 2021

JAKARTA - The Brazilian Space Agency, INPE said the rate of deforestation in the Amazon Forest, Brazil reached a high record last April. That proves Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's promise to commit to reducing forest damage is a mere empty message.

Cited from CNA, Monday, May 10, deforestation-affected rainforest areas reached 580 square km. That number is the highest increase in the history of Amazon Forest deforestation. In that context, the annual deforestation rate has increased significantly, which is 42.5 percent per year.

Although deforestation rates reached a record high in April. Previously, the deforestation rate in March was also higher than the previous 12 months. In fact, in January and February deforestation rates had decreased.

On that basis, Bolsonaro, who initially encouraged rainforest exploitation and called conservation groups such as cancer, has now turned to environmental rescue efforts. Last April, Bolsonaro even promised to immediately remove the rate of illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030.

Because the promise was uttered by Bolsonaro himself, all environmental NGOs doubted his intentions. Because from the beginning of 2021 the Brazilian government has not made any environmental rescue efforts to control deforestation. Moreover, the loggers didn't get the laws they should have.

"At the moment it is impossible to say what will happen but by 2021 there may be a record fourth consecutive deforestation", said one, a climate observer.

Meanwhile, Amazon's condition is becoming increasingly worrying. A study published last week by the journal Nature Climate Change said the Amazon Forest has released nearly 20 percent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past decade than it absorbs. The report suggests that humanity can no longer rely on the world's largest tropical forest to help absorb man-made carbon pollution.