During the past three years, there has been a 52.9% increase in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, compared to the three previous years. Images of the fires have shocked the world and caused an uproar. But it\u2019s not only the Amazon that has been suffering. Other biomes in the country such as the Cerrado and the Pantanal are being pushed to the brink to make way for soy plantations and cattle ranches. The Pantanal, a unique wetland home to jaguars and other endangered species, lost a third of its area in 2020 due to a combination of severe drought and fires set by farmers to expand their business.<\/p>\n\n Deforestation across Brazil isn\u2019t just a threat to the country. Brazil has increased its greenhouse gas emissions by 10% due to the fires in the country. According to an analysis by Carbon Brief<\/a>, Brazil is the 5th highest emitter in the world, mostly due to its land use and forestry. Forests are vital in the fight against the climate crisis. Losing these vital ecosystems means more carbon in the atmosphere and fewer resources to capture what is being emitted.<\/p>\n\n To enable all this destruction, Bolsonaro\u2019s administration has been weakening government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect the forest. IBAMA, a crucial agency responsible for environmental policies in the country, got its funds slashed by 30% from 2019 to 2020, while the budget for the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio) was reduced by 32.7 percent over the same period. In 2021, the Environment Department’s overall budget was at its lowest level since 2010.<\/p>\n\n The lack of resources, along with the removal of employees from their jobs – there was a 10% reduction in environment-related staff during Bolsonaro\u2019s administration – has allowed forest destroyers to expand their businesses. Without resources, the environmental agencies don\u2019t have the bandwidth to track environmental crimes and act on them.<\/p>\n\n With more destruction of the environment, comes more violence in the field. Loggers, miners, and land-grabbers are constantly invading protected Indigenous lands and engaging in conflicts with them – often lethal. According to the Global Witness report<\/a>, Brazil was one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists in 2021, with 20 registered killings. In 2020, 1,576 land conflicts were registered, a new high since 1985. Indigenous Peoples are the most threatened for trying to protect their lands and their rights. Over 41% of the reported conflicts were related to Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n\n Such violence is also enabled by Bolsonaro\u2019s government. The president described non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as \u201ccancers<\/a>\u201d for the country and proclaimed that their voice, the voice of civil society, has no meaning for him. In 2019, he accused NGOs of setting the fires in the Amazon themselves.<\/p>\n\n![\"Chart](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/01\/3e791cd9-bolsonaro_final_2021-02-1024x458.jpg\" "\\"Graphic")
The dismantling of environmental agencies<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
![\"Chart](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/01\/b71794aa-bolsonaro_final_2021-05-1024x458.jpg\" "\\"Graphic")
Violence in the field<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
![\"Chart](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/01\/4ca731e7-bolsonaro_final_2021-03-1024x458.jpg\" "\\"Graphic")
Threats to biodiversity and to the health of the population<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
![\"Chart](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/01\/cd26ba28-bolsonaro_final_2021-04-1024x458.jpg\" "\\"Graphic")