Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has accelerated at a drastic clip since far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was inaugurated in January 2019. The Brazilian government takes monthly satellite observations to survey the deforestation, and it found that logging rates increased dramatically in May, the traditional start of the logging season, over the same month last year. 

Since taking office, Bolsonaro has moved to weaken many environmental protections in the country by knee-capping the nation's environmental ministry. To boot, the president's son, Flavio, serves in the Brazilian senate and is pushing there to eliminate forest preservation regulations for the agriculture industry. The move, according to The Guardian, could open up an area larger than the country of Iran to further deforestation.

Carlos Souza, a member of the independent monitoring group Imazon, told The Guardian, "The government can’t deny these numbers from their own agency. The question now is what they’ll do about it,” adding, “by the end of July, we’ll have a clear idea of the impact of recent moves to dismantle environmental policies.”