Brazilian environment minister Marina Silva has promised an investigation into accusations by Greenpeace that the country’s land reform agency, Incra, is increasing rainforest deforestation.
The environment ministry claimed that deforestation had fallen by a third in the year to July, with more controls on illegal logging coming into place and economic development projects helping to reduce deforestation by nearly 5,000 km².
However, Greenpeace has said that, while it recently acknowledged that overall deforestation is declining in the Amazon, illegal logging is actually on the rise as Incra is permitting logging companies to fell areas assigned for land settlements instead of using already deforested areas, which “opens the door for further forest destruction and climate change”, according to Amazon campaigner André Muggiati.
This has led Ms Silva to state that an investigation will be undertaken by Incra and other Brazilian authorities to assess the validity of the accusations.
