Highest deforestation in Amazon tribal lands since 2008: ISA study

According to a new study based on satellite imagery, deforestation was highest since 2008 on protected indigenous lands in the Amazon. It was almost three times higher than the loss of trees in the region as a whole. Brazil’s space research institute INPE studied by ISA, a socio-environmental NGO working with indigenous people conducted the study which shows that between August 2018 and July 2019 deforestation on reservations reached 42,600 hectares. It is a dramatic increase over previous years though it represents only 4 per cent of the overall loss of forest in the Amazon in the same period (totaling 9,762 square kilometers or 976,200 hectares). Land grabbers and illegal loggers and miners are the main drivers of deforestation on indigenous reservations claimed the study.

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Antonio Oviedo, the ISA researcher who authored the study told the media that the indigenous lands are a strong barrier to deforestation. However, this year’s deforestation has surged above the recent trend due to increased outside pressure on protected lands, he added.

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Indigenous tribes lose lands

According to environmentalists who blame President Jair Bolsonaro for advocating the development of the Amazon, the invasions in tribal areas have increased causing deadly clashes with indigenous people and deliberately set fires aimed at clearing forest for cattle pastures. The scenario was far better earlier as deforestation in indigenous areas had been falling steadily since 2008, to a low point of just over 5,000 hectares in 2014, but then began to rise again. In 2017, it reached 11,000 hectares and jumped to almost 25,000 hectares in 2018.

In 2019, it surged by 174 per cent over the average for the decade. Less than 10 per cent of their native forests were lost by the 424 reserves that were studied by the ISA. Yet about 20 per cent have lost almost half of their forest cover and 5 per cent have virtually no trees left. The Ituna-Itatá reservation south of Altamira in Pará state, followed by the Apyterewa reservation in São Felix do Xingu, saw the worst of all of the deforestation where the government had to send troops to remove invaders.

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(With inputs from agencies)

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