After a decade of declining deforestation rates in the Amazon, there has been a drastic rise in cutting down trees in recent months. And according to Philip Fearnside, an ecologist and professor at the National Institute for Research in the Amazon, a Brazilian law might be to blame for the rise in deforestation.
Deforestation in the Amazon increased in 2013 and has gotten progressively worse in the last six months. Images from Brazil’s DETER satellite show that deforestation from September 2014 to January 2015 was more than double what it was the previous year during those same months.
According to Fearnside, the deforestation decline from 2004 to 2012 was thanks in part to the less-than-desirable international exchange rate. Along with the exchange rate going down, international commodity prices declined. People had no reason to clear land for crops or cattle when exporting their products was an unprofitable endeavor.
At the time, there was also a big push for those involved with agriculture to have a clean environmental record. Cutting down trees illegally translated into a loss of financing.
Then came the Forest Code in 2012, a Brazilian law that gave those who had illegally cut down trees prior to 2008 amnesty for their actions. Fearnside says that this, together with an increase in prices for items such as soy and beef, has encouraged people to start cutting down trees illegally again. “The expectation is that if you clear illegally now, sooner or later there will be another amnesty that will forgive your past crimes.”
Fearnside points out that the impact of deforestation goes far beyond just the ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest. A lot of water in São Paulo comes as rain that has evaporated off the rainforest trees. If the trees are cut down, then this rainwater is no longer going to be available. The impact could go beyond just a one-year drought.
As Brazil faces water shortages in major cities throughout the country, both public and private attention must be directed to conservation efforts and eliminating measures that may ultimately destroy the rainforest.
