Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits record for month of April

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE
Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Deforestation detected in the Brazilian Amazon reached a record high for the month of April. January and February had also broken records for those months. It marked the first time that alerts over deforestation surpassed 1,000 square kilometers during a month in the rainy season. The data is from the Brazilian space agency’s Deter monitoring system, and correspond to the first 29 days of April. Full-month figures will be available next week. Amazonas state led deforestation in April, overtaking the states of both Para and Mato Grosso for the first time in the start of any year on record. That is particularly worrisome, as Amazonas is deeper in the rainforest and has remained relatively more pristine.