The destruction of the Amazon is once again on the rise despite a recent government crackdown on illegal logging, Brazil's new environment minister said on Wednesday. Carlos Minc said official calculations of how much rainforest has been cut down would be released on Monday by the National Space Research Institute.
"It will be bad news. It will be data showing an increase in deforestation," Minc said in an interview on Brazilian national channel, Globo TV. Minc took his post last week after veteran rainforest defender Marina Silva surprised the nation by resigning, citing "stagnation" in the fight to preserve the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness.
Deforestation in the Amazon declined for three consecutive years until earlier this year, when preliminary satellite data detected a sharp increase. In response, the government sent environmental agents and federal police units to tackle illegal logging in the jungle region.
This policy has been met with violent protests as officials shut down dozens of illegal sawmills, leading to seizures of 15,500 tons of illegally logged wood.
Earlier this month, the country's ministry of justice said the operation had reduced deforestation by 80% between February and March.
But environmentalists said such month-to-month comparisons are unreliable.
Aides at Minc's office said he wasn't immediately available to comment on how his data differed with that of the ministry.
The Brazilian Amazon covers about 1.6m sq miles (4.1m sq kms) or nearly 60% of the country. About 20% of the forest has already been destroyed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/22/forests.conservation1
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