Brazil's Amazon deforestation surges to 15-year high, undercutting government pledge

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows a tree at the center of a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest soared 22% in a year to the highest level since 2006, the government's annual report showed on Thursday, undercutting President Jair Bolsonaro's assurances that the country is curbing illegal logging.

Brazil's space research agency, INPE, recorded 13,235 square kilometers (5,110 square miles) of deforestation in the world's largest rainforest in its PRODES satellite data, an area nearly 17 times the size of New York City. The official deforestation data covers a period from August 2020 through July 2021.