As industries around the globe buckle under the COVID-19 crisis, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has continued its upward trajectory, Reuters reports.
Deforestation increased 30% year-over-year in March, according to the country’s space research agency.
“The data doesn’t show a strong impact like we’re seeing across every other sector of the economy,” an environmental expert told Reuters. “We are not seeing this with deforestation, which continues to be high.”
The first case of the coronavirus in Brazil was reported Feb. 28, according to the report, and the outbreak has since upended much of the country’s economy.
In the first three months of 2020, forest destruction in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon increased 51% compared with one year ago.
The full report can be found here.
