Brazilian Atlantic Forest deforestation up nearly 60% in a year

The deforestation of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil's second most important forest, grew 57.7% in a year, from 2015 to 2016, when the biome lost 29,075 hectares, or 29 thousand football fields. Figures were released by the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

Atlantic Forest. Image credit: Agência Brasil

In the previous period (2014-2015), the area cleared had totaled 18,433 hectares.

According to SOS Mata Atlântica Executive Director Marcia Hirota, the forest, which has spread across 17 states for ten years, had not seen such high levels of deforestation. “What strikes us the most is the considerable increase in deforestation during the period. It's a huge setback, with rates comparable to those of 2005,” she said. From 2005 to 2008, the Atlantic Forest lost 102,938 hectares—a yearly average of 34,313 hectares.

From 2015 to 2016, Bahia was the state most severely hit by deforestation—12,288 hectares cleared, 207% higher than the previous 3,997 hectares of native vegetation devastated.

The Bahia municipalities of Santa Cruz Cabrália and Belmonte head the list with the top deforesters, with 3,058 hectares and 2,11 hectares respectively.

Deforestation rates from other cities in southern Bahia considered, like Porto Seguro and Ilhéus, some 30% of the biome was destroyed during the period in the region.

The state of Minas Gerais ranks second, with 7,410 hectares deforested, most of which in the north—an area known for the devastation of its native vegetation for the production of coal and the growing of eucalyptus. (Agência Brasil)

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