Criminal networks and the accelerating destruction of Mato Grosso’s Amazon forest

Criminal networks and the accelerating destruction of Mato Grosso’s Amazon forest

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon region has long been driven by illegal logging, land grabbing, and weak enforcement. But in the western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, authorities and environmental groups now warn that the nature of this crime is changing in a dangerous way. What was once largely the work of small-scale loggers and local actors has increasingly become the domain of organized criminal groups with money, logistics, and even armed…