Much of the illegal logging taking place in the Amazon today is carried out by criminal networks that have the logistical capacity to coordinate large-scale logging and use violence against those who try to stop it. IBAMA officials call these criminal groups “ipê mafias,” a reference to the ipê wood they harvest. [46] Mourao said the government was obliged to crack down on illegal mining until a possible change in the mining law in indigenous territories was possible. “This research highlights the fact that even deforestation and conversion that appear legal on paper can turn out to be illegal. In the Environment Bill currently before Parliament, the UK government must ensure that there is no deforestation or habitat destruction in UK supply chains – “legally” or not. The study, conducted by the Brazil chapter of the World Wildlife Fund and the local institute Centro da Vida, says the lack of publicly available data on approved land use has complicated Bolsonaro`s own promises to end illegal deforestation. In the American Meteorological Society`s Journal of Climate, two research meteorologists from NASA`s Goddard Space Flight Center, Andrew Negri and Robert Adler, analyzed the impact of deforestation on weather patterns in the Amazon using observatory data and measurements collected by NASA`s tropical rainfall measurement mission over many years. In collaboration with the University of Arizona and North Carolina State University, Negri said, “In deforested areas, the land warms faster and reaches a higher temperature, resulting in localized upward movements that amplify cloud formation and ultimately produce more precipitation.” [73] This section documents acts of violence and intimidation—including the killing of 28 people, the attempted murder of four, and more than 40 cases of death threats—when there is credible evidence that the perpetrators were loggers and land grabbers. [149] In one of the nine victim cases, evidence suggests that a logger ordered the killing of farmers to remove them from the land he wanted to cut down.

In the other cases, the victims appear to have been targeted for trying to prevent illegal logging. Scientists using NASA satellite data have discovered that clearing mechanized farmland has recently become an important force in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. This change in land use can alter the region`s climate and the country`s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. The researchers found that in 2003, the peak year of deforestation, more than 20 percent of Mato Grosso state`s forests were converted to agricultural land. This finding suggests that the recent expansion of arable land in the region is contributing to continued deforestation. In 2005, soybean prices fell by more than 25 percent and some areas of Mato Grosso experienced a decrease in major deforestation events, although the central agricultural area continued to clear forests. However, deforestation rates could return to the high levels of 2003 as soybean and other grain prices begin to recover in international markets. Brazil has become one of the world`s leading producers of grains, including soybeans, accounting for 5% of the country`s exports. [37] This new factor of forest loss suggests that rising and falling prices for other crops, beef and timber could also have a significant impact on future land use in the region, according to the study. [38] But several developments have reversed this progress.

Among them, loggers have increasingly turned to tree-cutting techniques, making it difficult to monitor by satellite to see the extent of the ongoing damage. At the same time, the nation`s federal environmental agencies have suffered budget and staff cuts that have reduced the number of field inspectors available to oversee deforestation. Mourao denied allegations of illegal mining on indigenous lands and said the number of illegal gold miners in the Amazon was overestimated. He said the government is putting that number at 4,000. If faced with illegal logging in remote areas, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to get authorities to react quickly before the perpetrators leave. As a result, patrols sometimes try to arrest loggers themselves and then take them to the police. This practice is legal under Brazilian law, which allows anyone to detain a person red-handed and then call the police or take the criminal to a police station. [132] In 2005, Brazilian Environment Minister Marina da Silva announced that 9,000 km2 (3,500 square miles) of forest had been cut down the previous year, compared to more than 18,000 km2 (6,900 square miles) in 2003 and 2004.

[89] Between 2005 and 2006, deforestation decreased by 41%; Nevertheless, Brazil still had the largest forest area taken each year on the planet. [1] An estimated 30% of deforestation is caused by smallholder farmers; The rate of deforestation in the areas where they live is higher than in areas occupied by medium and large pastoralists, who own 89% of the Amazon`s legal private land. This highlights the importance of using previously cleared land for agriculture, rather than the usual, politically simpler way of distributing deforested land. [14] The number of small farmers relative to large landowners varies according to economic and demographic pressures. [14] [15] [16] [17] IBAMA and ICMBio can fine loggers, confiscate illegal logging equipment and, in extreme cases, burn it if its transport is uneconomical or would endanger the environment or its agents. [32] IBAMA and ICMBio often conduct joint operations with the support of federal and state police. Federal and state police can arrest people who engage in illegal logging anywhere. [33] Illegal logging in the Brazilian Amazon is largely fueled by criminal networks that have the logistical capacity to coordinate large-scale timber extraction, processing, and sale while using armed men to protect their interests.

Some environmental officials call these groups “ipê mafias” and refer to the ipê tree, whose wood is among the most valuable and sought after by loggers. However, these loggers` careers include many other tree species – and their ultimate goal is often to completely clear the forest to make room for livestock or crops. Estimates of deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest from 1970 to 2017 are presented in the table below, based on data from the National Institute for Space Research and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). [82] “Zero deforestation commitments from private [extractive] companies would be crucial to create barriers to products from deforestation areas,” Freitas said. In fact, one of the most successful examples of reducing deforestation in the Amazon was the 2006 Amazon-soy moratorium, a voluntary partnership between transnational commodity corporations, producers, and government. For the entire state of Maranhão, IBAMA had only nine field inspectors in 2018 to monitor environmental crimes of all kinds – not just deforestation. With a total area of about 332,000 square kilometers, Maranhão is the eighth largest state in Brazil and therefore larger than Italy. [103] An IBAMA official in São Luís, the state capital, told Human Rights Watch that the agency conducts only four monitoring operations per year in indigenous territories that maintain the largest remaining forest blocks in Maranhão, as well as in the Gurupi Biological Reserve, which is monitored by ICMBio agents.