Deforestation Rises in the Amazon Again

One thing everyone agrees on (if you’re not a logging, palm oil, soy or cattle company) is that preserving what’s left of the world’s forests is Job #1 for climate change and biodiversity. Since the mid-2000s, deforestation of the world’s tropical forests dropped about 25%, according to the UN, but new research shows that patched over the long term trend – it accelerated 62% over the past 20 years. And after cheering a 70% decline of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon, clearing is rising again. Satellite data reveal an alarming rise of 63% in the Amazon in the second half of 2014, after rising 29% in 2013, according to Mongabay. Apparently, Brazil’s economic downturn lowered the value of its currency, making soy and beef more profitable for export, stoking deforestation, explains Mongabay. The government is responding by expanding policing efforts, but what’s really needed are payments and other incentives for farmers and ranchers to maintain and increase forest cover, experts say. And the key Forest Code was loosened in 2012. In some good news, Brazil caught the person responsible for about 20% of deforestation in recent years. Ezequiel Antônio Castanha could face up to 46 years in prison for operating a […]

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