More than 200,000 hectares of Amazon forest have been destroyed in just nine months

May 28, 2019 — 11.45am  source : The Sydney Morning Herald

Rio de Janeiro: A non-government group that monitors the Amazon rainforest says the pace of deforestation is increasing.

Imazon said that satellite imagery show the region lost 2169 square kilometres (216,900 hectares) of forest in the most recent August-through-April period.

A deforested area near Novo Progresso in Brazil's northern state of Para.

CREDIT:

AP

That's a 20 per cent jump from the 1807 square kilometres lost over the same nine-month period the previous year.

Analysts blame uncontrolled logging and land invasion for much of the loss, some of which occurred in protected areas and Indigenous reserves.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his environment minister have questioned the reality of climate change and spoken in favour of expanding mining and industrial farming, including in Brazil's protected areas. Many see the comments are permission for farmers and loggers to expand into wilderness areas.

To highlight the perceived threat from the new government, Brazil's most famous indigenous chief, Raoni Metukitire of the Kaiapo tribe, has been touring Europe in his traditional lip plate and feather headdress. After a climate march in Brussels, an appearance on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet and a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron last week, Raoni met Pope Francis on Monday.

Pope Francis, left, embraces Chief Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapo Tribe in the Vatican on Monday. Raoni is travelling with a Xingu delegation to raise awareness of the threat to Amazon indigenous reserves.

CREDIT:

VATICAN/EPA

He is on a quest to raise €1 million ($1.6 million) to better protect the Amazon's Xingu reserve - home to many of Brazil's tribal peoples, the AFP reported.

Meanwhile, the builders of a new power transmission line to the northern Brazilian state of Roraima have pledged to deploy 200 inspectors to reduce the environmental impact on an indigenous reservation where they will erect 250 pylons, according to an environmental assessment document seen by Reuters.

It said they also had committed to keeping secret any geological information on the discovery of mineral resources to avoid drawing illegal mining interests that have long set their sights on the land of the Waimiri Atroari tribe.

State-run utility Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras and private energy sector holding company Alupar Investimentos will build the 720-km line from Manaus to Roraima's capital Boa Vista, connecting the state to the national grid.

The companies won the contract in 2011 but the project, which became a priority after Venezuela suspended electricity supplies to Roraima last year, was delayed by environmental licensing and concerns over laying the line over 122 km of tribal lands.

The government now expects licensing to be completed by July and construction to begin in the second half of this year," the document said.

To avoid impact on the indigenous populations the power lines will be laid at a height of up to 109 metres above the reservation land, according to the 400-page document.

The companies involved in the project agreed to provide internet connection for 24 Waimiri Atroari villages that do not have access at the moment.

AP, Reuters, The Age