In one year, the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has increased by almost 22 percent. This is the largest amount of lost forest in the past 15 years. This is apparent on Thursday from official estimates by the Institute for Space Research (Inpe) based on satellite images.

Between August 2020 and July 2021, 13,235 km² in the Brazilian part of the Amazon forest was deforested. This is apparent from the data from Prodes, a monitoring system of the Brazilian government institute Inpe.

It has been 2005-2006 (14,286 km²) that the Brazilian rainforest was cut so much, and this is an increase of 22 percent compared to a year earlier.

It is already the third consecutive year that deforestation in the area has accelerated. As a result, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized internationally for doing too little to prevent the logging.

At the UN climate summit in Glasgow this month, Brazil pledged to end illegal deforestation by 2028. Leading up to the summit, the Brazilian government released preliminary data showing it was controlling deforestation in the country. However, the newly released figures paint a more bleak picture.

According to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo and the British newspaper The Guardian, the government was already aware of the bad figures at the time of the climate summit. Plus, these songs are normally released as early as October — not just in November like this year, O Globo reports.

Meanwhile, Brazilian Environment Minister Joaquim Leite responded during a press conference in the capital Brasilia. He speaks of “a challenge”. “We will have to take stricter action against environmental crimes,” Leite acknowledged. While he said the data was inconsistent with recently stepped up enforcement against illegal deforestation, which includes an increased military presence on the ground, he admitted more needs to be done to curb deforestation.

The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest rainforest and is spread over nine countries, but 60 percent of the forest is in Brazil. The forest is seen as crucial to the pact between more than 100 countries, including Brazil, to eliminate deforestation worldwide by 2030. The trees of the Amazon absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the planet.