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BrazilLula launches the first operations once morest deforestation in the Amazon
After four years of massive destruction under the government of Jair Bolsonaro, the new president of Brazil has promised to fight for zero deforestation by 2030.
In four years under Jair Bolsonaro, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon jumped 75.5% compared to the previous decade.
REUTERS
The first operations on the ground to combat deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, under the government of new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, began this week, we learned on Friday from the public environmental agency Ibama. “The deployment of teams for the start of inspection operations began on January 16,” the agency said, without however specifying where these first operations had started. “The objective is not to compromise the success of these actions”, she justified herself.
The left-wing leader, who began his third term in office on January 1, has promised to fight for zero deforestation by 2030, following four years of massive destruction under the previous government, that of Jair Bolsonaro.
A special police force
The former far-right leader promoted, throughout his tenure, policies favoring agribusiness and the mining sector. The average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon thus jumped by 75.5%, compared to the previous decade, during his presidency (2019-2022). “The environmental team put in place by the federal government has been working since the beginning of the transition period to build a plan capable of reversing the deforestation rates observed in recent months,” Ibama said.
On Wednesday, in an interview with the GloboNews channel, Lula said he wanted to create a federal police force, “in order to act more strongly” in favor of the protection of forests. He also said he wanted to organize a meeting with the leaders of the countries sharing the Amazon (Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia and French Guiana) to “discuss a continental policy” for the preservation of the rainforest.
“I’m going to need the armed forces, I’m going to need the federal police so that we can solve this problem in Brazil for good.”
“The commitment is to achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. And I will pursue this goal by all means. I will need the armed forces, I will need the federal police so that we can definitively solve this problem in Brazil”, he hammered.
Mining hindered
Just invested, Lula signed a series of decrees aimed at strengthening the protection of the Amazon. In particular, he reactivated the Amazon forest preservation fund, frozen since 2019, due to differences over the destination of the funds between Norway and Germany, the main donors, and the Bolsonaro government. Both countries have expressed their intention to feed it once more.
Lula also revoked a decree authorizing mining in indigenous areas and environmentally protected areas. Reducing deforestation is one of the solutions advocated by UN climate experts (IPCC) to limit global warming.
(AFP)