Brazil: In the past 3 years Atlantic rainforest deforestation is 9 times the 2000-2005 rates

The deforestation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has totaled 793
hectares in the past three years, the country’s National Institute of
Space Research (Inpe) and the SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation said on
Wednesday. The total area is equivalent to 990 soccer fields.

The deforestation mainly occurred in the metro areas of Rio, Sao Paulo and
Vitoria, the capital city of Espirito Santo state. All the three are
located in Brazil’s most densely populated southeastern region. The
largest deforestation was registered in the Sao Paulo metro area,
where 437 hectares of forest were suppressed in three years.

That represents about nine times the deforestation registered between 2000
and 2005. In Rio’s metro area, the deforestation more than doubled,
jumping from 94 hectares in the 2000-2005 period to 205 hectares in
the 2005-2008 period, with the severest deforestation registered in
the municipalities of Itaborai and Nova Iguacu. In Vitoria’s metro
area, deforestation reached 150 hectares between 2005 and 2008. The
Atlantic forest used to occupy most of the Brazilian coast, reaching
areas in Argentina and Paraguay and covering 1.3 million square km,
which represents 15 percent of the Brazilian territory. About 122
million Brazilians, or 67 percent of the Brazilian population,
currently live in the area. According to the SOS Atlantic Forest
Foundation, 93 percent of the area originally covered with the
Atlantic Forest has already been deforested.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/6556805.html

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