Brazil's Amazon sees surge in deforestation
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest rose sharply last month as the country prepared to send troops to try to curb unlawful logging and mining.
Brazil's space research agency said the area destroyed in April was 64% bigger than in the same period last year.
In the first four months of 2020, destruction of the forest by illegal loggers and ranchers rose 55%, it said.
Environmentalists say President Jair Bolsonaro's policies and rhetoric inspire illegal activity.
Mr Bolsonaro denies this. Earlier this week he authorised the deployment of armed forces to the region.
The Amazon rainforest is a essential carbon store that decreases the pace of global warming.
Brazil's National Institute of Space Research (Inpe) said that a lot more than 405 sq km (156 sq miles) of the Amazon had been deforested last month weighed against 248 sq km in April last year.
Between January and April, a complete of just one 1,202 sq km was destroyed, it said.
Conservation groups said that, since the coronavirus outbreak began, fewer government enforcement agents have been deployed.
Brazil has been among the worst-affected countries in SOUTH USA, with 141,000 cases and nearly 10,000 deaths.
"The pandemic hasn't helped because there are apparently less agents out there and illegal loggers obviously don't care about the virus in remote areas of the Amazon," said Paulo Barreto, senior researcher for the non-profit conservation group Imazon.
Environmental enforcement agency Ibama said it had been scaling back field agents in other at-risk areas however, not in the Amazon.
Deforestation in your community has soared since President Bolsonaro took office last year.
He has argued that more farming and mining in protected regions of the forest will be the only way to lift the spot out of poverty.
Mr Bolsonaro's environmental policies have been widely condemned but he has rejected the criticism, saying Brazil remains a good example for conservation.
He has criticised Ibama for what he referred to as excessive fines. His first year in office saw a sharp drop in financial penalties being imposed for environmental violations. As well, the agency remains underfunded and understaffed.
