In 2019, according to Inpe, deforestation in the Brazilian Cerrado grew 15%; WWF-Brazil fears that the Cerrado is heading for a process of mass extinction unprecedented in Earth's history

According to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, according to Prodes Cerrado data, released by Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), "deforestation in the Brazilian cerrado between August 2018 and July 2019 fell slightly but remains high." 6,483 km² were devastated, with a 15% growth in deforestation in protected areas (PAs).

According to Folha, "the value is not far from the devastation seen in recent years in the Amazon, but the cerrado is about half the size of the Amazon biome.

The Cerrado biome has recently lost the equivalent of London's metropolitan area every three months, according to data released by Inpe. The loss of vegetation cover in recent years has worried environmentalists.

According to WWF-Brazil, at the rate of destruction in recent years, the Cerrado is heading for a process of mass extinction unprecedented in Earth's history.

Fight against deforestation in Brazil decreases under the government of Jair Bolsonaro

Ibama inspectors, the body responsible for environmental protection in Brazil, applied fewer warnings and fines for flora infringement until the end of August 2019 in the Legal Amazon. In Brazil, fires caused by human action or deforestation are crimes against flora, as well as the sale of illegal timber.

According to a report made by the gazetaweb site and the G1 site, servers that fight environmental crimes in Brazil say that the embargoes are not respected and that Ibama is weakened in the current administration.

The problem of environmental destruction in Brazil is not restricted to the Amazon region. Last week, the Cerrado and the Pantanal were also the targets of the same problem.

Last Thursday, the government of Mato Grosso do Sul decreed a state of emergency after more than 1 million hectares were consumed by fire.

According to Exame magazine, data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) burnings show that the Pantanal closed August with 4,660 fire outbreaks, 235% more than in the same period last year and 50% more. than the historical average between 1998 and 2018.

The first days of September 2019 in Brazil are marked by 7,304 fire outbreaks in the Cerrado and 6,200 in the Amazon rainforest

According to data from the Bank of the Burn Program, of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), indicate that the Cerrado surpassed the Amazon in the number of fire outbreaks in Brazil.

The main causes, according to experts, are fires caused by human action and those that spread due to the heatwave that affects the Cerrado region in recent days.

The Cerrado, the second largest biome in South America, is rich in biodiversity. Nearly 12,000 species of plants have been identified, along with thousands of different types of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, butterflies, and other animals. Despite its undeniable importance, according to the Ministry of Environment, only about 8% of the Cerrado is legally protected by protected areas.