The Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, said at a press conference this Thursday (18th) that the increase in deforestation in the Amazon by almost 22% compared to last year “does not reflect the performance of the government in recent months” . According to the minister, however, the data are a “challenge” for the federal administration.
“The numbers presented today are numbers that had a high [no desmatamento], do not reflect the performance of the last few months [do governo federal]. We are being present, and the National Force, with Ibama and ICMBio, has been working in 23 municipalities on a permanent basis. These are numbers even though they are challenges for us. We will have to be more forceful in relation to these crimes”, he stated.
According to the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), deforestation in the Amazon reached 13,235 square kilometers between August 1, 2020 and July 31, 2021, up 21.97% compared to last year.
The data collected by the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon by Satellite (Prodes) were disclosed in a document on the federal government’s website this Thursday (18th).
According to the Minister of Environment, the federal government has joined forces with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to combat this practice. Leite highlighted that the performance began three months ago and, for this reason, according to him, it wouldn’t be working yet.
“The results have to show up in the numbers. The result of this action that started in the last 3 months has to start to reflect in the numbers, because it hasn’t appeared yet”, he said. “We are going to start executing the budget of more than millions for IBAMA and ICMBio to make them more modern.”
In addition, the minister stated that “739 men, who are in the process of being hired, will be working at the beginning of next year” in places with deforestation spots. Thus, according to him, the force that operates in 23 municipalities today will be expanded.
Government promises “full strength” against deforestation
The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres, also participated in this Thursday’s interview. Along with the minister of the Environment, Torres said he will “use all the strength of the Brazilian government in combating deforestation.”
“The Ministry of Justice will carry out integrated operations, together with the states, and will use all the strength of the Brazilian government to fight deforestation from now on. This crime has passed the time for an end in Brazil, illegal deforestation will not perpetuate in our country”, said Torres.
According to him, the folder in which he commands is working on a “very robust plan that involves all the strength available to face these numbers”.
“We need to understand this data a little better. The Ministry of the Environment will bring us details of these numbers, and we will understand where the problems are. We know that there are environmental crimes, that there is land grabbing, a series of information about this deforestation. We are talking about crimes, and crimes need to be solved with the police.”
(*With information from Reuters)
Reference: CNN Brasil
