Brazil announced preliminary plans to increase its oversight of the Amazon rainforest, Yahoo News reports. The announcement follows reports of a 51% surge in deforestation during the first three months of 2020.
Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao said he will submit the plans to President Jair Bolsonaro and suggest “repressive actions” against illegal loggers, according to the report.
Between January and March, the country’s portion of the Amazon lost 300 square miles, an area roughly the size of New York City.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has spiked in the year since Bolsonaro took office, with many environmentalists citing a laxing of logging policies and enforcement as the cause.
“We’ll act forcefully in areas where deforestation is accelerating,” Mourao said during a live broadcast announcing the plans, according to Yahoo.
