Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased to the highest monthly levels in more than a decade in March, according to data released this month by Brazils federal space agency, illustrating how environmental destruction has accelerated even after a record outbreak of fires hit the rainforest last year.

More than 200 square miles of forest were cleared in March, according to INPE, the Brazilian space agency that monitors deforestation via satellite.

That marks the highest monthly total since April 2008, according to the environmental news site Mongabay . Forest destruction has increased by more than 50% over the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2019, when the fires drew global attention to the destructive environmental policies of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazils Indigenous tribes have expressed fears that illegal raids on protected tribal lands have also intensified during the global COVID-19 pandemic, as miners, loggers and agricultural interests emboldened by Bolsonaros promises to open up the forest continue their push into the Amazon region.