PORTO ALEGRE: The floods devastating southwestern Brazil have been exacerbated by forest, much of it driven by grain farming, according to experts, who urge the nation to regain its forests and their great water- retaining root systems.
For the past three months, torrential rains have flooded Rio Grande do Sul, a crucial agricultural state, causing more than 150 deaths and some 100 missing in cities and rural areas everywhere.
It is the country’s fourth severe weather event in less than a time, a trend scientists say is driven by weather change– and even deforestation.
” There’s a global aspect to climate change, and also a local one, which is the reduction of indigenous vegetation. That increased the strength of the storms”, says researcher Eduardo Velez of MapBiomas, an organization that uses satellite pictures to record forest.
According to the group, Rio Grande do Sul lost 22 percent of its native vegetation, or 3.6 million hectares ( 8.9 million acres ), from 1985 to 2022.
These wildland areas have mostly been replaced by corn, pine, and particularly soybean fields, of which Brazil is the largest exporter and producer worldwide.
– Violent period-
Native trees help ensure that water enters the soil and does n’t accumulate on the surface, according to Jaqueline Sordi, a biologist and journalist with a focus on climate issues from the area.
Vegetation even holds land in place, helping to reduce erosion and floods.
The deep brown color of the water that has flooded the express funds, Porto Alegre, along with 90 percent of Rio Grande do Sul’s cities,” shows just how many tons and tons of earth were washed ahead” in the storms, Velez told AFP.
In a vicious cycle, the mud has now grown in rivers ‘ beds, making them shallower and therefore more likely to flood next.
” Beyond relocating people ( from high- risk areas ) and rebuilding infrastructure, it’s extremely important to have policies on restoring native vegetation”, said Velez.
According to a study by the sustainable development organization Instituto Escolhas in 2023, Rio Grande do Sul “urgently” needs to restore more than a million hectares of forests in order for them to properly fulfill their proper environmental role.
However, Velez claims there is still no “heavyweight” plan to do that in Rio Grande do Sul despite a deal it signed last year with other states in southern and southeastern Brazil to reforest 90, 000 hectares by 2026.
– ‘ Open people’s eyes’-
Deforestation increased on a national level under the leadership of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, a staunch supporter of the powerful agribusiness sector who served from 2019 to 2022.
” It became easier to get permits ( to clear vegetation ), and Rio Grande do Sul played a big role” in benefitting from those permits, said Sordi.
Sandro Fantinel, a member of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, caused controversy last week by calling for the area to clear more trees near roads, alleging that their weight and water-swollen roots had caused landslides during the floods.
According to Sordi, disasters like the one right now have the power to “open people’s eyes” to the scientific proof of climate change and its “warning signs.”
” Sometimes, we only pay attention when the issue arises.”
