Sadness, indignation, shame, and fear. These are the feelings of Brazilians when they hear about the Amazon, observes the Febraban Observatory.
The survey by the Brazilian Federation of Banks questioned, by telephone, 1,200 people across Brazil about the Amazon's importance for Brazil and the world. The margin of error is 2.9 percentage points more or less.
When talking about the Amazon, sadness is the main feeling for 24% of the people interviewed; 17% feel indignant and 13% shame. Fear was reported as the primary feeling related to the theme by 11%.
Unfriendly feelings are reflected in discontent with the protection of the Amazon. Eighty-three percent of respondents say they are not satisfied with the biome's preservation, considered the most threatened in Brazil by the people interviewed. Dissatisfaction is spread across all age groups and all levels of education.
Perhaps, for this reason, the vast majority of Brazilians (88%) say they are concerned or very concerned with the preservation of the Amazon, which, for just over half of the interviewees, has worsened or worsened a lot in the last five years.
Since 2012, the trend observed in the biome has been to increase deforestation. The growth movement accelerated sharply with the Jair Bolsonaro government (without a party). In the first year of the Amazon under Bolsonaro, there was a 34% explosion in deforestation compared to the previous year.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon