Official data released by the Brazilian government have shown that destruction of the Amazon rainforest has sharply accelerated, reversing the apparent slowdown identified during the past three years.

According to evidence collected by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, illegal logging destroyed 756 square kilometres of forest in August – three times the area lost during the same period last year. Local NGOs blamed the increase on high global food prices encouraging landowners to turn their land over to crop production. But Carlos Minc, the Brazilian environment minister, said that local elections might also have played a part, with regional mayors turning a blind eye to illegal logging in a bid to secure votes.

Separate research conducted by Greenpeace showed that the six largest deforested areas belong to the National Institute of Colonisation and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), a government agency responsible for distributing land to the landless poor. But Environment Ministry figures show that private landowners deforested more than three times as much land area as INCRA between January and August this year, suggesting that soy and cattle farmers are still inflicting the most damage.

December 2008