The news comes amid concerns from environmentalists that the country’s new president-elect will open up more of the Amazon to logging.

Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty Images Aerial view of deforestation in the western Amazon region of Brazil in September.

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is at its worst level in a decade, Brazilian officials announced Friday, amid concerns that logging in the world’s largest forest will only increase once the country’s anti-environment president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, takes office. Between August 2017 and July 2018 some 7,900 square kilometers (3,050 square miles) of rainforest were cleared, 13.7% higher than the previous period, according to figures from Brazil’s environment ministry. According to Greenpeace Brazil, the figures mean approximately 1.185 billion trees were brought down. That’s an area equivalent to 987,500 soccer fields or 5.2 times the sprawling city of São Paulo, which has a population of more than 12 million.

Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty Images Aerial view of deforestation in the western Amazon region of Brazil in September.

Environment Minister Edson Duarte blamed illegal logging and an “upsurge in organized crime” for the increase in deforestation, which was most pronounced in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará.

However, Greenpeace blamed the Brazilian government for weakening some protections for the jungle, which soaks up huge amounts of carbon dioxide and is seen as key in combating climate change. Still, the figures mark a 72% drop in the deforestation seen in 2004, when Brazil began taking measures to combat the problem. “But depending on the Jair Bolsonaro government,” Greenpeace said, “the predictions for the Amazon (and for the climate) are not good.”

Sergio Lima / AFP / Getty Images Brazil’s president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro.