Amazon deforestation increased by 110 percent in May 2015

By Antônio Fonseca, Carlos Souza Jr., and Adalberto Veríssimo
May 2015 (Imazon) – In May 2015, SAD detected 389 square kilometers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon with a cloud cover of 39% over the territory. That represented an increase of 110% in relation to May 2014 when deforestation totaled 185 square kilometers and the cloud cover was 38%. In May 2015, the deforestation occurred in Amazonas (27%) and Mato Grosso (27%), followed by Pará (23%) and Rondônia (21%) and, at a lower proportion, Roraima (11%). The deforestation accumulated during the period from August 2014 to May 2015, corresponding to the first ten months of the calendar for measuring deforestation, reached 2,286 square kilometers. There was a 170% increase in of deforestation in relation to the previous period (August 2013 to May 2014) when it reached 846 square kilometers. Degraded forests in the Brazilian Amazon totaled 33 square kilometers in May 2015. In relation to May 2014, when forest degradation totaled 159 square kilometers, there was a 79% reduction.
In May 2015, deforestation occurred in Amazonas (27%) and Mato Grosso (27%), followed by Pará (23%) and Rondônia (21%) and, in a lower proportion, Roraima (11%) (Figure 3). Accumulated deforestation during the period from August 2014 to May 2015, corresponding to the first ten months of the calendar for measuring deforestation, reached 2,286 square kilometers. There was a 170% increase in deforestation in relation to the previous period (August 2013 to May 2014) when it reached 846 square kilometers.
Considering the first ten months of the current deforestation calendar (August 2014 to May 2015), Mato Grosso leads the ranking with 37% of the total deforested during the period. Next come Pará (24%) and Rondônia (20%). In relative terms, there was a significant increase of 222% in Rondônia and 218% in Mato Grosso. In absolute terms, Mato Grosso leads the ranking of accumulated deforestation with 837 square kilometers, followed by Pará (537 square kilometers) and Rondônia (448 square kilometers) (Table 1). [more]

Deforestation report for the Brazilian Amazon (May 2015) SAD