Deforestation and land-grabbing at full steam during Covid-19

With the formal economy grinding to a halt, illegal deforestation and land-grabbing operations in the Amazon are doing a roaring trade

May 12, 2020 11:09 4 min read

With a significant number of people isolating at home, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought many industries to their knees. However, illegal land-grabbing, mining, logging, and poaching in the Brazilian Amazon continue at full steam, with criminals using the pandemic period to ramp up deforestation in the region.

According to data from the National Institute of Space Research (Inpe) and its real-time deforestation detection system, alerts of deforestation in the Amazon increased 63.75 percent in April, compared to last year. This uptick in forest destruction is also affecting indigenous and preserved areas of the region, with alerts in these territories...

Access all of The Brazilian Report

Start your 7-day free trial.

Free trial

Close search

Load more results

Deforestation and land-grabbing at full steam during Covid-19

With the formal economy grinding to a halt, illegal deforestation and land-grabbing operations in the Amazon are doing a roaring trade

Access all of The Brazilian Report

Start your 7-day free trial.

Changing tack, Covid hearings decide to follow the chloroquine money instead

Evidence that government officials may have benefited financially from pushing ineffective treatments has given the Senate hearings new momentum

Covid inquiry brings Marielle murder back into the spotlight

A former Rio de Janeiro governor used the committee to suggest the president is linked to a murder case, in what is the latest episode of how the Covid inquiry is being used for political theater

Could Brazil’s “third way” come from the left?

Polls show voters polarized between Lula and Jair Bolsonaro ahead of the 2022 election, with candidates more to the center failing to be competitive

Brazilian state governors in a race for vaccines (and popularity)

Several state governors announced they are bringing their local vaccination timetables forward, in a mad dash to immunize their populations ahead of the 2022 elections

Over 11,000 public works ‘disappear’ from government records in data blackout

A new report found a series of problems in public works databases, with thousands of projects simply disappearing from government systems. The Economy Ministry has 30 days to fix the issue

Minas Gerais shows steel in pandemic recovery

Home to Brazil's largest number of steel mills, Minas Gerais has been able to mitigate negative effects of the pandemic amid rising iron ore prices

Brazil’s beef consumption hits all-time low amid price hikes

With a weakened currency and an economy ravaged by the pandemic, Brazilians are being priced out of beef on supermarket shelves

GM wheat from Argentina sparks clash between Brazil and green associations

Brazil imports most of its wheat from Argentina, but the prospect of purchasing genetically modified crops has led to massive pushback from civil society and environmental organizations

Brazil is starting to exploit its huge solar energy potential

New investments in solar plants in Minas Gerais and Ceará show the way in expanding the country’s capacity in renewables

Brazil’s new startup framework: progress or a missed opportunity?

The federal government has ratified a new legal framework including regulations for startup companies in Brazil. However, experts warn that the legislative changes are too shallow to make a meaningful difference

Tech roundup: ICT sector creating jobs

Tech Roundup: Online sales to save Valentines’ Day

A digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil

Tech Roundup: Electric cars gain steam in Brazil

A digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil

Tech Roundup: Startup brings favelas into e-commerce boom

A digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil

Tech Roundup: Brazil flirts with restrictive social media decree

The Brazilian Report’s weekly tech roundup is a digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil

Explaining Brazil #156: The future of work in Brazil

In Brazil, the remote work solution was never easy, as the country has an extremely informal economy. This week, we discuss the future of work in Brazil

Explaining Brazil #155: Bolsonaro opens a military Pandora’s box

Amid the president's threats to ignore the results of a potential electoral defeat, seeing the Army cave to his will on a legal matter is very worrisome indeed

Explaining Brazil #154: A crisis in Angola threatens Bolsonaro

President Jair Bolsonaro is battling multiple domestic crises — but one dispute across the Atlantic could cost him the support of a valuable ally

Explaining Brazil #153: More variants, fewer vaccines

As vaccine rollouts stumble in multiple Brazilian regions, health officials confirm the country's first cases of the Indian variant

Explaining Brazil #152: A president without a party

Jair Bolsonaro has seen his popularity dip in recent months, now polling behind Lula. But he has an even more immediate concern: the president needs to find a party

Uruguay: unions organize protests against “starvation and inequality”

Paraguay buys 1 million vaccines from Vaxxinity

PAHO: “until everybody has vaccines, we need urgent health protocols”

Mexico sends over 1 million medical supplies to Guatemala

Paraguay struggling to keep up with neighbors in vaccination push

Brazil terrorized by manhunt for violent rampage killer

Over the past ten days, Lázaro Barbosa has been on the run for the police after a string of murders and robberies. Local residents are fleeing their homes in fear

Citizens chancing their arm with São Paulo’s zero-waste vaccine policy

As vaccination marches on in Brazil's biggest state, citizens outside of priority groups are able to sign up to receive surplus immunizers at health centers. The result is chaos, with glimmers of hope

Online far-right grows, stoking fears of a Brazilian “January 6”

Drawing inspiration from U.S. groups, the Brazilian far-right is highly active on the Parler network, where conspiracy theories circulate freely

The House of Death and a human incinerator: dark tales from Brazil’s military dictatorship

A federal court ordered the expropriation of a Rio de Janeiro sugarcane mill this week, notoriously used by the military dictatorship to incinerate the corpses of tortured dissidents

Serrana mass vaccination trial a rousing success

Researchers administered coronavirus vaccination to 95 percent of the adult population in the small city of Serrana. Covid-19 deaths have plummeted and the town is returning to normal

Widespread grain farming raising temperatures in the Amazon

A recent study found that average temperatures in the city of Belterra increased by almost 1 degree Celsius over 30 years, thanks to an increase in grain farming and deforestation

The traditional Brazilian cactus which could solve crop drought

Scientists have found that bacteria found in the mandacaru cactus can drastically improve the drought resistance of corn plants, making it a game-changer in Brazilian agriculture

Neither half-full nor half-empty, glass is overflowing or bone dry in the Amazon

While experts warn of a spate of forest fires after low rainfall in Amazonas, the state's main rivers are breaking their banks and flooding cities

Major Amazon mines contaminate rivers and threaten local population

Polluted rivers on an Amazonian indigenous reserve have been linked to major tin miner Taboca, which denies any responsibility for dam leaks

Are Brazilian cities prepared for climate change?

Brazil is set to experience dramatic and disastrous changes in the future, whether it likes it or not

Castillo leads in Peru, but will he be able to govern?

Peru has been marred in a never-ending loop of political crises, with weak presidents and a trigger-happy Congress

Ortega ramps up authoritarianism in Nicaragua

Charges against journalists and opposition leaders are part of the Ortega playbook to tip the scales ahead of November’s presidential election

National football shirt at the center of political disputes in Peru

As has become the case in Brazil, the Peruvian national football team jersey has become a symbol of the country's right-wing movement

Copa America in Brazil sparks flurry of outrage

Critics claim the tournament would pose a massive health hazard to the country

Copa America shrouded with uncertainty amid pandemic surge

Copa America has already lost one of its two hosting nations to protests. It could lose the other to a new Covid-19 surge

Impunity is the norm amid Brazil’s epidemic of police killings

The death of pregnant 24-year-old Kathlen Romeu in Rio de Janeiro sparked public outcry, but people being killed at the hands of the police is worryingly common in Brazil — and often goes unpunished