When Brazilians went to the polls last year, it was not just a choice for or against the previous president, the extremely controversial Jair Bolsonaro, who was called by some the “Trump of the tropics”. There was also a choice as to whether Brazil would clear or save the rainforest. Brazil ended up choosing to drop Bolsonaro and instead Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was installed as president on January 1. One of his election promises was to better protect the country’s rainforests, and the new policy already seems to be starting to have an effect. In January, deforestation in Brazil fell by 61 percent, according to Brazil’s space agency, INPE, which keeps an eye on the size of the rainforest using satellite images, Reuters writes. The news excites Gry Bossen, who is team leader for policy and engagement at the nature conservation organization Verdens Skove and who follows developments closely. – I think to a large extent that it is good news, because deforestation has clearly fallen significantly in January, she says. Satellite images from Brazil are always a little more uncertain in January, since at this time of year there are more clouds over the country. But Gry Bosse still believes that we can already say that the new president’s policy has begun to work. – Lula is making a determined move right now to stop especially illegal mining, which also means deforestation, and part of his stated political goal is precisely to stop deforestation. So I definitely think that this can be attributed to his accession, she replies. Will take several years to rectify She explains that during Bolsonaro’s four years as president, more and more forest was felled, and the former president was known for his hostile attitude towards the rainforest. Among other things, Bolsonaro stated that deforestation and forest fires will never end in Brazil, as he sees it as part of the country’s culture. Therefore, he used his time as president to not only dismantle the rules and authorities that were supposed to crack down on illegal deforestation, but also to change the law so that the crimes were made legal. – Especially towards the end of his presidency in 2022, deforestation increased even more – it was as if people only had time to cut down a little more forest before Lula was installed. Because Lula has long announced that now there will be other bowls, says Gry Bossen. For example, she mentions that one of Bolsonaro’s first decrees was that he made it legal to confiscate indigenous territories for mining. But under Lula this has now been made illegal again. – So immediately it seems as if Lula’s signals have worked to that extent, says Gry Bossen. She nevertheless elaborates that it will take several years before the forest protection institutions in Brazil, which were dismantled under the previous president, are fully functional again. Among other things, Brazil’s Ministry of Environmental Protection’s department called IBAMA. It is this authority that in practice cracks down on those who cut down the forest illegally, but Bolsonaro sharply cut their budget and installed new people in the management. Under Lula, on the other hand, IBAMA has now again started patrolling in search of illegal loggers.
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Brazil slows chainsaw massacre of rainforest
