BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Vice President Hamilton Mourao said on Friday that preliminary satellite data showed deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell 5% between August 2020 and July 2021, highlighting an improvement at the margin first reported in August.
President Jair Bolsonaro has been severely criticized by environmental activists and some world leaders for the rise in deforestation during his term. Despite the preliminary data showing a slight fall this year, deforestation under his presidency remains at a level not seen in over a decade.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Brad Haynes)
