What is driving Brazil’s Amazon deforestation rates up?

Published on Monday, Brazil’s official annual Amazon deforestation numbers show evidence of a long-anticipated tragedy. Between August 2018 and July 2019, the rainforest lost a total of 9,762 square kilometers of forest coverage—the equivalent of the entire surface of Cyprus.

This is the highest annual deforestation rate since 2007–2008, during Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidency—when the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) registered 12,911 square kilometers of deforested land. It also represents a 29.5-percent increase from the previous 12 months. Only at two other points since records began has the year-to-year increase in deforestation been so high.

NGOs blame the Jair Bolsonaro administration and its laissez-faire stance on the environment for the surge in deforestation. 

The state of Pará boasts the inglorious pole position in deforestation rates, accounting for 40 percent of the total scrapped forest coverage in the Amazon. The state of Mato Grosso, one of Brazil’s leading agricultural powers, comes second, with 17 percent.

Environment Minister Ricardo Salles promised to discuss the issue with governors of the region but offered no plan to deal with the situation.

Context

The deforestation data published this week is the most accurate measure produced by...