Environmental fines issued by Brazil’s environmental agency declined 20% in 2020 compared with 2019, Reuters reports.
The agency gave out 9,516 fines during the year, compared with 11,914 in 2019. Deforestation in the Amazon soared to a 12-year high in 2020, with an area of forest seven times the size of London cleared, according to Reuters.
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has cut funding to the country’s environmental agency since assuming office in 2019 and has appointed overseers with “softer tactics” against illegal logging, according to the report.
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