Deforestation in the Amazon is out of control.

Deforestation in the Amazon is out of control. February saw the worst indicator in history, with approximately 1.992 square kilometers destroyed, a 62% increase compared to the same period in 2021. Alerts are concentrated mainly in the states of Mato Grosso, Pará, and Amazonas. This is the largest area with alerts for that month since 2016, when measurements by DETER/INPE began, which this week released the 2022 figures.

This has to stop. Otherwise, we risk losing sovereignty over the Amazon in a very short time. We are not respecting international agreements for climate balance on the planet, and soon we will have the US in a consortium of countries claiming control of the Amazon, with the approval of the United Nations. 

It's not just the results from February that are raising alarm bells about the Amazon. The first two months of this year broke historical records, accumulating more than 600 square kilometers of deforestation, three times more than what was recorded in the first two months of 2021. This confirms what we have been saying for some time: there is a lack of policy to combat deforestation and environmental crimes in the Amazon, a lack of a coherent, strong environmental policy committed to sustainable development, not to mention the dismantling of control and enforcement agencies. 

Back in February, the University of Exeter in southwest England published a study revealing that the Amazon rainforest is reaching a "point of no return," with three-quarters of the forest reducing its resilience against droughts and other adverse weather events, risking becoming degraded forest with serious impacts on climate and biodiversity. 

Ironically, while researchers reveal this data and there are movements by the population to block the destructive package, Congress approves the bill allowing mining on indigenous lands, which, if passed, should cause even more destruction to this vital part of our heritage. 

What will be the fate of the Amazon? Will it be destroyed by our incompetence, lack of vision, and indecisiveness? Or will we fall into the arms of Uncle Sam, under the pretext of balancing climatic conditions but truly interested in our immense riches, such as our reserves of potable water? Are we going to wait and see?