The overthrow of the Amazon continues to break new negative records even during the rainy season in the region, called the "Amazonian winter". In November alone, 590 km² were deforested, 23% more than in the same month last year. With this, the accumulated since January reached 10,286 km², which is equivalent to the devastation of 3,000 football fields per day. That's the worst mark for the period in 15 years.

"Brazil is already the fifth largest emitter in the world of greenhouse gases, which are responsible for climate change. And as we see the increasing deforestation numbers, we also see another negative record in emissions. In 2021, the country had the highest increase in the release of these gases in 19 years, mainly because of the sector of change in land use, directly connected with the overthrow in the Amazon", says Bianca Santos, researcher at Imazon.

The increase in devastation has increasingly threatened the largest tree in Latin America and the fourth highest in the world: a red angelim located in the State Forest (Flota) of Paru, in northern Pará. In November, this conservation unit was the third most deforested in the entire Amazon.

Under the responsibility of the government of Pará, the territory suffers from the advance of the mining and the grilagem that put at risk not only the record tree, but also a sanctuary of angelins with heights greater than 70 meters. In addition to harming hundreds of families who depend on the extraction of brazil nut in Flota Paru. This is why Imazon launched the campaign #ProtejaAsÁrvoresGigantes, which calls for urgent action from state management.

"Flota do Paru is a true sanctuary of giant trees in the Amazon. Therefore, it is extremely serious that deforestation is advancing on the site. In a consultation held this month in the Rural Environmental Registration System of Pará (Sicar Pará), it is possible to view more than thirty Rural Environmental Registers (CARs) overlapping the area, which indicates that deforesters are pushing for the possession of these lots. The Government of Pará urgently needs to cancel these illegal records and remove the invaders from the conservation unit", warns Jakeline Pereira, researcher at Imazon and advisor to Flota.

Like the accumulated year, deforestation in November was the worst since 2008, when Imazon implemented its Deforestation Alert System (SAD), which monitors the forest by satellite images. And almost half of the dropin the month in the entire Amazon occurred only in Pará: 276 km² (47%).

Mato Grosso occupied the second place, with 82 km² of forest destroyed (14%), and the Amazon the third, with 66 km² (11%). Together, these states accounted for 72% of all devastation in the Legal Amazon.

Source: Um só Planeta