This is more than twice as much as in the same period last year, as the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) reported, citing preliminary figures.

The Inpe evaluates satellite images. With a quick survey, it examines changes in the forest in real time.

Half of the area of ​​Rhineland-Palatinate

The Inpe numbers thus give an indication of how the official deforestation rate could develop over a year. The rate refers to the period from August to July.

In 2018/19, according to the Inpe, 9762 square kilometers of forest were destroyed, which is about half the area of ​​Rhineland-Palatinate. The rate was 42 percent higher than the preliminary figures of the Inpe for the period would have suggested. Deforestation in the Amazon is expected to increase further in 2020.

From the rainforest to the savannah

2019 was the first year of right-wing Jair Bolsonaro as Brazilian president. He came under criticism for the devastating fires in the Amazon region. Environmentalists accuse him of accepting the fires in order to open up new areas for agriculture. In the previous year, Bolsonaro had called the Inpe's data "a lie" and dismissed its director at the time.

With the forest, irretrievable species are steadily lost . The soil in large parts of the Amazon region erodes heavily after deforestation. Scientists believe that the influences on the regional and global climate will be massive in the medium term. Forecasts predict the transformation of almost the entire Amazon into a savannah