“They’re shooting the messenger.”
These were the words of Antônio Nobre, Amazon expert and researcher of the Brazilian Institute of Space Research (Inpe), upon hearing that director Ricardo Galvão had been fired by the Jair Bolsonaro government.
The institute has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, after having its latest data on deforestation contested by the president, who questioned the veracity of the numbers from what is a highly respected research institute. This was coupled with mounting pressure on Brazil from the international press to act quickly and save the Amazon rainforest.
After The New York Times published a front-page story on the Amazon at the end of July, British magazine The Economist also brought the subject to its cover last week, in a scathing report entitled “Deathwatch for the Amazon.”
In mid-July, the Real-Time Deforestation Detection (Deter) system—an Inpe department specializing in deforestation figures—published its latest deforestation numbers for the month of June. Using satellite imagery, the institute calculated that levels of tree clearing in the Amazon were 88 percent higher than in June 2018, a piece of news which troubled the Jair Bolsonaro government.
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