The State with the Highest Rate of Deforestation – Cantos do Sabiá

João Lucas França – Broadcaster and communicator for the Sabiá Center.

It’s June—the month of São João, the June festivals, bonfires, balloons, and good food. But I’d like to take a moment to talk about an issue that matters a great deal to those of us who live here in Pernambuco. It’s a warning that cannot go unnoticed.

While Brazil saw a decrease in deforestation in the Atlantic Forest, Pernambuco went in the opposite direction and recorded the largest proportional increase in the destruction of this biome among Brazilian states.

And this is even more serious when we consider that very little remains of the forest that once covered much of our territory. With every tree that falls, we lose water, biodiversity, climate stability, and quality of life—not only for the forest’s inhabitants but also for those in our cities.

The Pernambuco state government needs to explain what led the state to have, during the period under review, the highest proportional rate of deforestation in the Atlantic Forest among Brazil’s states, in contrast to the reduction recorded at the national level.

To discuss this struggle over the present and future of the Atlantic Forest, we spoke with Isabelle Meunier, an associate professor in the Department of Forest Science at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco. Isabelle is a forest engineer specializing in ecology; she holds a master’s degree in soil science and a Ph.D. in forest sciences.

Cantos do Sabiá is the Sabiá Center Podcast! Every week we discuss agroecology, sustainability and politics in the countryside and the city! The podcast goes live every Monday, with the complete interview edition that originally made up the Center’s radio program. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Yeo5PhoEelWIpuC6cYERE