Today, millions of indigenous people in the Amazon Basin are fighting a battle against time in order to save the immense tropical forest and avoid a global “apocalypse”, especially after it became known that 17% of the forest is already it has been destroyed by the exploitation of oil and minerals, pollution and deforestation itself for agriculture and livestock.
And it is that, according to experts, there would be two possible scenarios if the Amazon disappears. On the one hand, the “apocalypse”, without turning back. People could run out of oxygen, the planet will warm up in just fifty years, two or even three degrees more. And life on this planet would simply not be possible.
As we knew in mid-October of last year, deforestation in the Amazon reached 17% (of the total area). And the experts are clear: if it reaches 20%, it would be very difficult and complicated to go back . The same lack of water, desertification, and fires would end up devastating the Amazon, so, in reality, we would be at a turning point.
We must not forget that the Amazon is one of the largest reserves of fresh water on the planet , and has the largest biodiversity in the world, which helps ensure a balanced climate. Each of the trees that we find there generates clean air, and collects the waste that comes from other countries, and the pollution itself.
While, a few months ago, academics and experts from environmental organizations, including the Brazilian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), published a report in which they pointed out that 74% of deforestation in the Amazon, and in the region of Matopica (covering parts of the states of Tocantins, Maranhao, PiauÃa and Bahia, is illegal .
A situation that would be caused by the inability, on the part of the different authorities, to document , for example, the legal use of the same land by different activities, such as agriculture or livestock . Or in the case of loggers .
The text underlines that “the differentiation between legal and illegal deforestation is a key factor to ensure that agricultural and forestry production is not stigmatized by environmental crimes.”
As we have already commented on some other occasion, since the beginning of Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency in 2019, a peak in deforestation was reached some time ago: between August 2019 and August 2020, deforestation in the Amazon had increased by 9 .5% , destroying an area greater than the equivalent of Jamaica, according to official data.
It is true that Bolsonaro is under strong pressure worldwide to restore the image of his government on issues related to the environment. And the Brazilian food industry, which has become one of the largest exporters of both meat and soybeans, is worried about the consequences that this pressure could bring.
In this sense, we recently learned that some large distributors in Europe had withdrawn different meat products suspected of coming from deforested areas from supermarkets.
At the end of December, we learned that the European Commission wants to ban imports of deforestation products. According to statistics, the continent would be responsible for 16 percent of the deforestation linked to global trade in the world, mainly from the import of raw materials such as wood, beef or coffee.
Although Bolsonaro promised to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030, the authors of the aforementioned report consider it unrealistic, especially after the country’s Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that relaxes environmental requirements for agricultural and energy projects. And at a time when, during the current coronavirus pandemic, deforestation has grown dangerously.
