Brasília – From August 2008 to July 2009, the Amazon lost 7,000 square metres of forest. It is the lowest annual deforestation rate ever recorded by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), since the survey began in 1988.
The figure, which was better than the government forecast, of 9,000 square kilometres, was disclosed today (12th) by the director of the Inpe, Gilberto Câmara. "It is a significant reduction. It is by far the lowest rate since the Inpe started keeping track," said the director while the data were being presented to the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, ministers and governors of Amazonian states.
The rate is calculated by the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (Prodes), which uses satellites to monitor the areas that suffered total deforestation, the so-called close cut. The lowest rate that had been recorded thus far had taken place in 1991, when satellites spotted 11.03 deforested square kilometres.
In comparison with the previous period (August 2007 to July 2008), when deforestation totalled 12.9 square kilometres, the reduction in deforestation was 45%. "It is very pleasant to realize that the effort of the Brazilian society for reducing deforestation in the Amazon has reached a very satisfactory level," said Câmara.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
