The Amazon is being deforested more than twice as fast as last year, Brazilian officials said Monday, acknowledging a sharp reversal after three years of declines in the deforestation rate.
Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc said upcoming nationwide elections are partly to blame, with mayors in the Amazon region turning a blind eye to illegal logging in hopes of gaining votes locally.
Nongovernment environmentalists blame the global spike in food prices for encouraging soy farmers and cattle ranchers to clear land for crops and grazing.
Elections no doubt play a part, but "the tendency of deforestation rising is deeply related to the fact that food prices are going up," said Paulo Adario, who coordinates Greenpeace's Amazon campaign.
Brazil's government has been named as the worst illegal logger of Amazon forests by one of its own departments.
The Environment Ministry has drawn up a list of the 100 worst offenders and says all of them will be charged.
Topping the list was the Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), a government department which distributes land to the poor.
SOCIALISM: THERE'S NOTHING IT CAN'T DO POORLY, EVEN MANAGE A FOREST.
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