Forest degradation in the Amazon breaks monthly record in September October 28, 2024

An increase in fires contributes to destroying the green area. Federal Police photo of deforested area

Forest degradation in the Amazon breaks monthly record in September.

Camila Boehm - Reporter for Agência Brasil

Published on 27/10/2024

Forest degradation in the Legal Amazon reached 20,238 square kilometers (km²) in September 2024, equivalent to more than 13 times the area of São Paulo.

The figure represents an increase of 1,402% compared to September 2023, when the detected degradation was 1,347 km². The Imazon research institute pointed out that this was the largest area affected - in one month - by environmental damage in the last 15 years. Environmental degradation is the process of deterioration of the environment, which human or natural actions can cause.

Deforestation and forest degradation data in the Amazon, from the Deforestation Alert System (SAD), has been monitored by Imazon using satellite images since 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Deforestation corresponds to the complete removal of the forest, while degradation is damage caused by burning or logging - it doesn't remove all the vegetation but destroys part of it. The organization points out that both threaten species of fauna and flora.

“September is usually a month marked by an increase in these practices in the Amazon, as it falls within a drier period. However, the figures recorded in 2024 are much higher than those seen previously. And most of the alerts were due to the intensification of forest fires,” said researcher Larissa Amorim, from Imazon, in a statement.

She said that this spike in degradation is very worrying and that important rivers in the Amazon are in a critical situation. Imazon attributes the result of the survey to the increase in fires caused by human action and favored by the severe drought in the region.

September this year was also the fourth consecutive month with an increase in degraded areas, which contributed to the accumulated total since January also being the highest in the last 15 years, reaching 26,246 km². Before that, the record for the period was set in 2022, when degradation reached 6,869 km².

Most affected state

The state of Pará concentrated 57% of degraded forest areas in the Amazon in September this year. Degradation rose from 196 km² in September 2023 to 11,558 km² in the same month of 2024, an area almost 60 times larger. Seven of the ten municipalities that most degrade the Amazon region are from Pará, including São Félix do Xingu (3,966 km²), Ourilândia do Norte (1,547 km²) and Novo Progresso (1,301 km²).

Other states with significant percentages of degraded areas in September, according to Imazon, were Mato Grosso (25%), Rondônia (10%), and Amazonas (7%). The organization also highlighted the situation in Rondônia, where degradation went from 50 km² in September 2023 to 1,907 km² in the same month of 2024, which represents a 38-fold increase.

“Historically, in the September period, Mato Grosso used to lead as the state that degraded the Amazon the most. However, in 2024, Pará surprised us with very high figures. Still, in September, an emergency was declared, and the use of fire was banned, but we need this decision to be accompanied by inspection and accountability of the guilty parties so that it is more effective,” noted the coordinator of Imazon's Amazon Monitoring program, Carlos Souza Jr, in a statement.

In addition, Pará concentrates on seven of the ten most degraded conservation units in the period. The top four in the ranking are the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area (APA), with 1030 km²; the Jamanxim Flona, with 670 km²; the Tapajós APA, with 165 km²; and the Altamira Flona, with 124 km².

Among the indigenous lands, the Kayapó remains the most degraded for the second month running, with 3,438 km² affected. The territory accounted for 17% of all degraded areas in the Amazon in September.

“The fact that this Indigenous land remains among the ten with the largest degraded areas is a strong indication that the measures to contain the fire in the Amazon are not sufficient. The presence of this environmental problem in Indigenous areas and conservation units also directly compromises local biodiversity, threatening both fauna and flora and hurts the way of life, livelihoods, and health of traditional populations,” Larissa explained.

Deforestation

Deforestation also increased in the Amazon in September this year, the fourth month in a row that it has risen, after 14 consecutive months of reduced devastation in the region. In the month, an area of 547 km² was deforested, which means the loss of 1,823 soccer fields per day of forest, Imazon pointed out. The area was 0.2% larger than in 2023, when 546 km² were degraded.

From January to September, the deforested area was 3,071 km², the eighth largest in the historical series.

The majority of deforestation in September this year took place in private areas or under various stages of ownership (61%). The rest of the deforestation was recorded in Settlements (30%), Conservation Units (7%), and Indigenous Lands (2%).

Of the nine states that make up the Legal Amazon, three accounted for 83% of all deforestation identified in September. Pará led the way with 52% of deforestation, followed by Amazonas (16%) and Acre (15%). Seven of the ten municipalities with the most deforestation are from Pará.

Settlements

Pará also has seven of the ten settlements and seven of the ten conservation units with the largest deforested areas. Among the ten most deforested indigenous lands, three are entirely in Pará, and another three have part of their area in the state.

“In September, the state of Pará led the way in deforestation, destroying an area corresponding to 970 soccer fields of forest per day. All this impact is reflected in the municipalities, settlements, conservation units, and indigenous lands. That's why it's urgent to invest in effective, integrated actions to protect the region, such as investing in environmental inspection bodies,” said Carlos Souza.

He believes that, in this way, it will be possible to combat climate change, which is driven by the removal of vegetation, and offer greater protection to biodiversity and the people who inhabit the forest. Another point of attention, according to the institute's researchers, is the search for alternatives to reduce the impacts of the fires that have already occurred on both forest cover and populations.

Article published in Agência Brasil on 27/10/2024