Of the 68 thousand hectares in which logging is carried out in Amazonas, 42 thousand did not have authorization from environmental agencies for the activity, according to a survey released this Friday (5) by the research institute Imazon. This means that 62% of the logging area in the state is illegal.
Carried out annually by Rede Simex, made up of three environmental organizations – ICV, Imaflora and Imazon -, the research mapped logging in the state using satellite images and cross-checked authorizations for the activity issued by environmental agencies, covering the period from August 2023 to July 2024.
In relation to the previous survey (August/2022- July/2023), when 38 thousand hectares had logging without authorization, there was an increase of 9% in the area with illegal harvesting.
Researcher at Imazon’s Amazon Monitoring Program, Camila Damasceno assesses that the increase is extremely worrying as illegal logging ends up financing other environmental crimes, such as fires and deforestation.
“In addition, it also harms the legalized timber market, which removes trees through sustainable forest management and generates jobs and taxes for Amazonas,” he added.
In relation to authorized logging, Amazonas went from 11.3 thousand hectares between August 2022 and July 2023 to 26.1 thousand hectares between August 2023 and July 2024, which represents an increase of 131%.
Boca do Acre
Just two municipalities in the south of the state – Boca do Acre and Lábrea – account for 75% of all illegal logging in Amazonas. Leader of the ranking, Boca do Acre had 20.5 thousand hectares of irregular logging, while Lábrea had 10.9 thousand hectares of illegal logging.
“These municipalities are located within the region of agricultural expansion called Amacro, on the border between Amazonas and Acre and Rondônia. Therefore, we warn that logging in these territories could indicate future deforestation for land grabbing or for the production of grains and livestock, which reinforces the need to expand inspections in these municipalities and stop the entry of illegal products into the market”, warned Camila.
Protected lands
Illegal logging, stated the researcher, invades protected areas of the state, such as indigenous lands and conservation units, which is a concern not only in relation to environmental degradation, but the survival of the communities that occupy these places.
“The entry of invaders to remove wood from these territories threatens traditional peoples and communities, who depend on the standing forest to maintain their way of life”, explained Camila.
The survey showed that 13% of irregular wood removal (5.6 thousand hectares) occurred in protected areas, 9% in indigenous lands (3.9 thousand hectares) and 4% in conservation units (1.6 thousand hectares). There was a 19% drop in illegal exploration in protected areas compared to the previous study, when 6,900 hectares were mapped, of which 6,400 were on indigenous lands.
Despite the reduction, the irregular withdrawal reached an area greater than 5,000 football fields within the protected areas. Imazon highlights that, in addition to carbon emissions resulting from degradation, there is loss of biodiversity and social conflicts with illegal logging.
Rural properties present in public databases, such as the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), the Land Management System (Sigef) and the Terra Legal Program, were responsible for 32.5 thousand hectares of the area with irregular timber exploitation, which represents 77% of the total. According to Imazon’s assessment, this result shows that public bodies have data to monitor and punish illegal activity in these areas.
Another category that caught the attention of researchers in relation to illegal logging in Amazonas is non-designated public forests (FPNDs), with 3.3 thousand hectares (8%). FPNDs are forest areas in the public domain (Union, states or municipalities) that have not yet had their use officially defined, whether as a conservation unit or indigenous land.
“Therefore, allocating these lands to traditional peoples and communities or for conservation is an urgent action to protect the public and environmental heritage of Amazonians and Brazilians”, concluded the institute.
