Brazil Amazon deforestation up 22% in a year, 15-year record

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest rose by almost 22 per cent from August 2020 to July 2021.

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest rose by almost 22 per cent from August 2020 to July 2021 compared with the same period the year before, reaching the highest level in 15 years, authorities said Thursday.

The 13,235 square kilometers (5,110 square miles) of forest lost in the 2020-21 period was the largest swath since 14,286 km2 were cleared in 2005-06, according to an estimate by Brazil's national space research institute INPE.