Brigidine Sisters have an awareness of the cries of our hurting planet. Therefore we are shocked to hear recent reports that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has surged yet again over the past twelve month, hitting a 12-year high.
A total of 11,088 square kilometers of forest was destroyed in Brazil’s share of the world’s biggest rainforest in the 12 months to August 2020, according to the Brazilian space agency’s PRODES monitoring program, which analyses satellite images to track deforestation. That is equivalent to an area larger than Jamaica. It is a 9.5-per cent increase from the previous year, when deforestation also hit a more than decade-long high.
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro’s has presided over increased deforestation and wildfires since he took office last January. His government continues to push to open protected lands to mining and agribusiness, and has slashed funding for environmental protection programs.
In 2019 WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) stated: “Forests are vital to the planet, providing critical ecosystem services and livelihood to people and shelter to wildlife. But deforestation if rapidly threatening these ‘lungs of the earth’… Half the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed over the last century. If business as usual continues, up to 170 million hectares around 420 million acres of additional deforestation will occur by 2030.”