Brazil's Amazon deforestation down 61% in January

New Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised to protect the environment, including the Amazon rainforest, a portion of which is seen here in June 2022, after the severe governmental cuts by previous leader Jair Bolsonaro Photo: AFP/File


Today 06:24 am JST 0 Comment
BRASILIA
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest was down 61 percent in January -- Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's first month back in the job -- compared with the same period last year, according to an official report.

Satellite images from the DETER monitoring system showed an area of 167 square kilometers had been destroyed, according to the INPE space research institute.

That amounts to the equivalent of 22,000 soccer pitches, but is a huge decrease on the 430 square kilometers of deforestation in January 2022, when far-right climate change skeptic Jair Bolsonaro was in power.

The news came just before Lula was due to meet U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington earlier this week.

More:
https://japantoday.com/category/features/environment/brazil's-amazon-deforestation-down-61-in-january