Bolsonaro Plans to Replace State Agency with Private Company for Amazon Rainforest Satellite Surveil

[Judi Lynn]

Bolsonaro Plans to Replace State Agency with Private Company for Amazon Rainforest Satellite Surveillance
Only one private company, Planet, is qualified to do the surveillance

Aug.22.2019 1:04PM

Ibama, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, plans to replace the National Institute for Space Research in monitoring the Amazon Rainforest with a private company. Only one private company, Planet, is capable of doing satellite monitoring of the Amazon forest.

Inpe performs a similar service and has been publicly criticized, without scientific justification, by the Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) government.

The application calls for a private company to provide daily high spatial resolution alerts of deforestation evidence, monitoring with alerts similar to what is already done by Inpe's Deter (Real Time Deforestation Detection) system.

In recent months, the Deter showed massive deforestation in the Amazon. Destruction in June increased 90% and in July 278% - compared to June and July 2018 respectively - according to Inpe data.

The announcement of the sharp increase in deforestation and the international repercussion displeased President Bolsonaro. At breakfast with foreign journalists on July 19, when asked about the matter, the president said that the then director of INPE, Ricardo Galvão, could be "at the service of some NGO."

More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2019/08/bolsonaro-plans-to-replace-state-agency-with-private-company-for-amazon-rainforest-satellite-surveillance.shtml

[Duppers]

1. ...

[democratisphere]

2. I'm sure this will work out well.

[sandensea]

3. And to think Bolsonazi (and his poodle Macri) were touting this as 'the trade deal of the century'