Brazil confirms rising deforestation in the Amazon

/0313-brazil-deforestation.html

  • Brazil confirms rising deforestation in the Amazon
    http://news.mongabay.com/2015/0313-brazil-deforestation.html

    Figures released last week by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows that forest clearing detected by DETER — a short term deforestation monitoring system based on coarse satellite imagery — is 63 percent higher for the twelve months ended January 31, 2015 relative to the year earlier period.

    [...]

    Some environmentalists are blaming changes in the country’s forest code for the rising rate of forest. In 2012, the #agribusiness lobby in Congress pushed through new legislation that relaxed environmental regulations governing maintenance of forest cover on private land and eliminated penalties for illegal clearing by small farmers.

    But macroeconomic factors may offer a better explanation. The recent economic downturn in Brazil has hit its currency, the real, making export-driven agriculture more profitable since soy and cattle products sold in international markets fetch dollars, while costs are paid in less valuable reais. At the same time, grain and meat prices have risen off their financial crisis lows. A more profitable farm sector makes speculative forest clearing a more attractive option relative to other investments, especially in the context of a flagging Brazilian stock market.

    [...] with rates pacing well-ahead of last year, there seems to be a high likelihood that deforestation for the 12-months ending July 31, 2015 will be substantially higher than the previous year’s rate for the first time since at least the early 2000s. Only a sharp drop in clearing over the the next few months could avoid that fate.

    #Brésil #Amazonie #forêts #déforestation