INPE Releases 2005-06 Legal Amazon Deforestation Estimates

The Science and Technology Ministry, through the INPE, released its deforestation estimates for the Legal Amazon in the period of 2005-06.

The study was conducted by the PRODES (Legal Amazon Deforestation Monitoring Project), part of the Action Brazilian Amazon Satellite Environment Monitoring, to be presented at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Kenia in november 2006.

In this event, Brazil is going to defend its proposal for the creation of an international fund to reduce destruction of tropical forests.

The INPE has analysed 34 images, where 67% of the deforestation of the Amazon happened between 2004-05. The calculated rate in these images was 8,836km².

Based on this data, the institute estimates that the rate for the period between august 2005 and august 2006 will be 13,100km², with an error margin of 10%.

This projection indicates a 30% reduction in comparison to 2004-05. It is the second lowest Amazon deforestation rate verified since the INPE started the annual evaluation in 1988.