Deforestation in the Amazon, in April 2020, is the highest in the last 10 years; number of COVID-19 cases grows among Indigenous peoples

The deforestation area in the Amazon rainforest increased by 171% in April 2020 compared to the same month in 2019. Of this area, one-third of the entire area is concentrated in the state of Pará.

According to Anfavea (National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers), crawler tractors, the main instrument of deforestation in the Amazon, between January and April 2020 set a sales record for the last 5 years. Therefore, deforestation continues to enrich various sectors of the Brazilian economy, who work illegally or take advantage of the current government's lack of supervision to destroy the forest and earn money from it. Some of the tractors used in deforestation can cost up to one million reais.

Jair Bolsonaro's government, since its beginning in 2019, has been trying to hinder the destruction of machines learned during Ibama operations (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).

In total, in April 2020, 529 km² were deforested. The data are from Imazon's Deforestation Alert System (SAD). Ten municipalities were responsible for more than half of deforestation in the Amazon in April. Altamira and São Félix do Xingu, in Pará, and Apuí, in Amazonas, are at the top of that list.

Indigenous people

At least 23 Indigenous people died as a result of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. Several associations and representatives of the original peoples have, since the arrival of the virus in the country, been warning about the degree of vulnerability of Indigenous communities across the country.

The destruction of the forest also affects the Yanomami and Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Lands, in the Amazon. They are among the most deforested and also appear among the most vulnerable to Covid-19, according to a survey by ISA (Instituto Socioambiental).

Brazilian government does not destroy criminal equipment in Amazon, according to website Congresso em Foco

An official document accessed by the Congresso em Foco website, if according to an IBAMA server, the reinforcements that the Federal Government sent to contain the Amazon fires refused to cooperate in at least three operations, as they could result in the destruction of illegal prospectors or loggers' machinery. 

Following the worldwide repercussion of the Amazon fires and destruction, Jair Bolsonaro's government decided to send more than 7,000 troops to the region. However, according to the document to which the site had access, this effective can not always be used to combat one of the main causes of fires: mining and illegal logging.

The current government's relationship with woodworkers and prospectors is dubious. Earlier this month, to get an idea, according to the website Revista Fórum, the Environment Minister Ricardo Salles put in command of IBAMA (Brazilian environmental police) in Ceará, Colonel Ricardo Célio Chagas Bezerra, a ruralist known for extracting wood from the Amazon. Chagas owns a logging farm in Altamira (PA), a region where "Fire Day" was triggered by ruralists who set fire to the forest in 2019.

Last Friday, an environmental enforcement operation seized six trucks loaded with illegal timber in Tucuruí, Pará. According to the state government in northern Brazil, the cargo may have been removed from the Tucuruí Lake Mosaic, a protected area managed by Ideflor-Bio.

Among the deforested species are castanheiras, maçarandubas, amapás, guajarás e angelins vermelhos.

In Mato Grosso do Sul, the Environmental Military Police (PMA) issued R$ 12,700 in fines for environmental crimes in just 24 hours.

Industry in Pará has the worst result in 17 years

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the downturns in the production of mining and quarrying made the industry of Pará fall by 30.3% in April 2019, compared to March 2019. It was the biggest drop since the beginning of the historical series, and the third consecutive decline, accumulating losses of 38.8% in the period. Considering the first four months of the year, state production fell by 7.8%.

The main reasons for this decline were the risks of breaking down mining dams, such as occurred this year in Brumadinho (Minas Gerais), contamination of indigenous reserves and excessive rainfall. This contributed much to the fall in extractive production.

In addition to Pará, the states of Espírito Santo (-5.5%), Rio de Janeiro (-4.5%), Goiás (-1.4%) and Amazonas (-1.2% %). The survey also showed that 10 of the 15 sites increased production in April, with Pernambuco (8.3%), Bahia (7.4%), Northeast Region (6.1%) and Mato Grosso (5.1% ), which reversed the negative behavior of March.

São Paulo, the country's main industrial park, was up 2.4%, the most intense since June 2018, influenced by the vehicle sector.