Assessment of deforestation in southern Amazonas: the status of Boca do Acre over the last decade in light of government inaction

Abstract

Debates involving combat, inspection and mitigation of damage caused by deforestation in the Amazon have gained greater visibility today. In the years 2017 to 2021, with the change in environmental public policies, deforestation jumped from 6,947 km² to 13,038 km², however, when these data are analyzed in a longer way, i.e., in the last ten years, it is noted that the loss of vegetation cover in the Brazilian Amazon, has latently increased. In the south of Amazonas, especially in the region of Boca do Acre, the location of this study and isolated municipality of the capital Manaus, it is noticeable that the forest has lost space for pasture areas, creation of cultivars and mainly the illegal deforestation that occurs throughout the territory. . Data from national satellites, such as Landsat TM5, show total deforestation in the last ten years in the study's investigation region, which demonstrates the relevance of discussing, through scientific studies, the impacts caused by anthropic actions. The objective of this study was to evaluate deforestation in the region of Boca do Acre, between the years 2012 to 2022, the data were obtained with the aid of the PRODES Program of the National Institute for Space Research-INPE and the test used to evaluate deforestation in the municipality of Boca do Acre was that of (Pearson). Furthermore, the capture of satellite images was used in an attempt to trigger and quantify deforestation in the study region. After analyzing, filtering and comparing the data, it can be concluded that from 2016 an increasing rate of deforestation begins until 2022, with a small oscillation in 2020 and 2022, among all 10 years, the year 2021 surpassed all other years, with a deforestation rate of more than 200 km², the total amount was 1,162 km² deforested between 2012 and 2022, with an annual average of 117 km².