The destruction of Brazil's rain forests is continuing unabated, according to a government report released Saturday, just days before a UN climate conference in Poland, dpa reported.
The Brazilian government had pushed for the data's release ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. Environmentalists have routinely accused Brazil of not doing enough to preserve its rain forests.
The data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows continued destruction of rain forests in Brazil's north, reported the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo in its Saturday edition.
The information shows 11,968 square kilometres of rain forest destroyed between August 2007 and July 2008. That would mean a 3.7 per cent increase in forest area destroyed over the previous reporting period's tally of 11,532 square kilometres.
INPE figures, based on satellite images, reported that the Brazilian state of Para lost the most forested land in the study period - 5,180 square kilometres. The state of Maranhao had the fastest rate of growth for forest destruction, with an increase of 76.9 per cent to 1,085 square kilometres deforested.
The data allows for a discrepancy rate of 5 per cent in areas reported.