Last updated: 9 February 2021

513,016 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest were destroyed between 2000 and 2018, an area equivalent to the surface of Spain. If we consider that 73 per cent of deforestation in tropical and subtropical areas is the work of those who want to make room for pasture or agricultural land, it is not difficult to conclude that the main culprits are the countries that import products such as timber, soya and meat.

Why Jair Bolsonaro is accused by indigenous leaders

To understand the dynamics by which we are inexorably losing our green lung, a team of reporters from Presadiretta, the television programme hosted by journalist Riccardo Iacona, flew to Brazil to document how arson attacks and systematic illegal logging, a code of silence and the dismantling of environmental law enforcement are, unfortunately, "winning the battle against the Amazon".

Hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of rainforest disappear year after year to fund the interests of farmers and ranchers backed by the policies of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. Who, not coincidentally, has been reported for crimes against humanity by indigenous leaders Raoni Metuktire, chief of the Kayapó tribe, and Almir Narayamoga Surui, chief of the Surui Paiter tribe.

Meat imported into Italy could also be linked to deforestation

In the Monday 8 February episode of Presadiretta, which can easily be watched again on Raiplay, we too have the opportunity to take part in this journey across vast expanses of fields given over to soya monoculture and cattle pasture, where vegetation once stood. In this investigation, titled "Guerra all'Amazzonia", the team of reporters followed environmental police operations, intercepted the illegal timber trade, and tracked the soya route to the river ports from which it departs, bound for the rest of the world.

In addition, the second part of the episode presents the findings of a second investigation, "Troppa carne a buon mercato", with the aim of determining the environmental cost and origin of Brazilian meat, of which we are the leading importers in Europe: can we be sure it does not come from illegal pastures that have contributed to deforestation in the Amazon? We must not forget, in fact, that even simple, everyday gestures we perform daily can have a major impact on the planet — starting with what we buy at the supermarket and put on our plates each day.

"Guerra all'Amazzonia" and "Troppa carne a buon mercato" are a report by Riccardo Iacona with Marcello Brecciaroli, Alessandro Macina, Irene Sicurella, Fabrizio Lazzaretti.