Deforestation alerts increase in Brazilian Cerrado region
In the first half of 2023, the Cerrado region experienced a 21 percent increase in the area under deforestation alert. However, June witnessed a 14 percent drop, possibly signaling the beginning of a decline after a significant spike in deforestation alerts exceeding 80 percent in May.
During the data presentation on Thursday (Jul. 6), José Paulo Capobianco, the ministry's executive secretary, emphasized the “urgency and importance of implementing measures in the Cerrado, as they have become as crucial as those in the Amazon and are being pursued with great intensity.”
These numbers, collected by the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (Deter) of the Brazilian Space Research Institute (Inpe), which monitors changes in forest cover, are considered preliminary.
Most of the deforestation in the Cerrado—approximately 81 percent—is concentrated in the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia, known as the Matopiba region. Among them, Bahia holds the highest percentage, with 28 percent of the areas under alert in the biome.
Spanning an area of 2 million km2, the Cerrado is Brazil's second-largest biome, accounting for nearly a quarter of the country's total territorial extension. It encompasses 10 states, including all five Brazilian regions.
Inspection: Amazon and Cerrado
In the first semester, the ministry reported a 166 percent increase in violation notifications in the Amazon, resulting in fines amounting to BRL 2.3 billion and 3,341 violation notifications. In the Cerrado, there were 417 violation notifications, with fines totaling BRL 113.8 million.
The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) issued 1,141 violation notices in the Amazon during the first half of the year, marking a 348 percent increase compared to the average of the first half of the previous four years. Fines amounted to BRL 125 million. In the Cerrado, there were 56 violation notifications, and fines totaled BRL 13.4 million, reflecting the smaller presence of conservation units in the biome.
Combined, the two inspection agencies confiscated over 6,000 heads of cattle in an area of illegal deforestation in the Amazon.
