Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called the deforestation in the Amazon “cultural” after being confronted with a government report that found deforestation in the Amazon reached an 11-year high during his term, The Washington Post reports.
“Deforestation and fires will never end,” Bolsonaro told reporters. “It’s cultural.”
Environmental activists have blamed the rapid increase in forest fires and deforestation in the Amazon on Bolsonaro’s lax enforcement since taking office earlier this year. A government report based on satellite imagery found the Brazilian Amazon lost 3,769 square miles of rainforest between August 2018 and July 2019, an increase of 30% from the same period the year before.
The full report can be read here.
Read Next
