Amazon forest degradation increased by 5,785 percent over May 2015 estimate

Desdemona Despair

[Translation by Bing Translator.]

By Antônio Fonseca, Marcelo Justino, Carlos Souza Jr., and Adalberto Veríssimo
16 June 2016

(Imazon) – In May 2016, 34% of the forested area of the Amazon rainforest was covered by clouds, less coverage than May 2015 (39%). States with larger cloud coverage were Amapá (70%) and Roraima (61%). In the analyzed period, and under these conditions, SAD detected 474 square kilometres of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. This represents an increase of 22% compared to May 2015 when deforestation totaled 388 square kilometers.

In May 2016, deforestation was concentrated in the Amazon (37%), Rondônia (22%), Pará (21%), and Mato Grosso (15%), with minor occurrences in Roraima (3%), Tocantins, (1%) and Acre (1%).

Degraded forests in the Amazon rainforest totaled 1,959 square kilometers in May 2016. Compared to May 2015, when forest degradation scored 33 square kilometers, there was an increase of 5,785%.

In May 2016, SAD registered 1,959 square kilometers of degraded forests (forests intensely explored by logging activity and/or burned). Of this total, the vast majority (91%) occurred in Pará, followed by Rondônia (4%), Mato Grosso (4%), and Amazon (1%).

Boletim do desmatamento da Amazônia Legal (maio de 2016) SAD