Deforestation rates may triple following new policies set out for the Amazon.
Concern for the future of the Amazon, the world’s single largest rainforest, has intensified among conservationists, following the election of Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro as president.
Bolsonaro says he will increase conversion of Amazonian forest to agriculture. Specific policies include merging the agriculture and environment ministries and opening up the region to hydropower projects.
Some scientists have said deforestation rates could triple to more than 25,000km a year, more than five times what they were in 2005.
This story is from the January 2019 edition of BBC Wildlife.
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This story is from the January 2019 edition of BBC Wildlife.
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