Deforestation in the Brazilian Cerrado is greater than in the Amazon: report

Deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado region, a vast tropical savanna known for its rich biodiversity, increased sharply in 2023 and surpassed that of the Amazon, according to a report published Tuesday.

In the Cerrado, which stretches across central Brazil and neighboring Paraguay and Bolivia, more than 1.11 million hectares (2.74 million acres) were destroyed in 2023, a 68 percent increase compared with the previous year. , said the report from research group MapBiomas.

These losses represent almost two-thirds of the deforestation suffered throughout Brazil and about 2.4 times the destruction recorded in the Amazon, the report said.

Last year, 454.3 thousand hectares were deforested in the Amazon, 62.2% less than in 2022.

This is the first time that deforestation in the Cerrado has been greater than in the Amazon since MapBiomas began compiling data in 2019 from several satellite mapping systems.

Less famous than the Amazon rainforest to the north, the Cerrado is one of the three great savannas on Earth, along with those in Africa and Australia, and covers a region the size of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain combined.

“The face of deforestation is changing in Brazil, concentrating in biomes dominated by savannas and pastures, and decreasing in jungle areas,” said MapBiomas coordinator, Tasso Azevedo.

But in all cases, “almost all deforestation in the country (97 percent) is driven by agricultural expansion,” highlighted MapBiomas, a collective of Brazilian NGOs and universities.

More than 93% of the destruction “presented at least a hint of illegality” or irregularity, according to data from the Amazon Environmental Research Institute.

More generally, deforestation in Brazil decreased in 2023 for the first time in four years, a drop of 11.6% compared to the previous year.

The report is bittersweet news for left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who presents himself as a champion of the fight against climate change and has promised to eradicate illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030, which worsened dramatically under his far-right predecessor. JairBolsonaro.

The loss of native vegetation in the immense South American country has increasingly evident consequences, such as the historic floods that hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul earlier this month, killing at least 170 people and forcing around 600,000 people to leave their homes.

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