Photo: Tom Fisk-
Metropolis Desk-
Preliminary government data indicates that, as a result of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s implementation of stricter environmental measures, deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest decreased by 34% in the first half of 2023, reaching its lowest level in four years.
The region’s rainforest clearing decreased to its lowest level since 2019 in the first half of this year, according to data released on Thursday by Brazil’s national space research agency Inpe, covering 2,649 square kilometers (1,023 square miles).
Daniel Silva, an environmental expert with the organization WWF-Brasil, said, “It’s extremely great, but we still have very significant levels of deforestation.
After escalating destruction under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who had scaled back environmental protection efforts, 77-year-old Lula took office in January with a promise to stop deforestation by 2030.
The Amazon’s deforestation increased by a staggering 75% from 2019 to 2022 compared to the average of the preceding ten years. More mining and farming on protected territories, according to the former far-right leader, would help the area escape poverty.
In a press conference on Thursday, Environment Minister Marina Silva stated that the decrease in deforestation was a direct result of the Lula administration’s quickly increasing resources for environmental enforcement.
“[Our anti-deforestation plan] is already in full gear, and we are making every effort to make sure of that. Our emergency response efforts have produced this, Silva added.
Deforestation in Brazil totaled 663 square kilometers (255 square miles) in June alone, according to satellite data from INPE, the country’s national space agency. This is a reduction of 41% from the same month a year earlier. As the yearly peak in deforestation and fires occurs from July to September, it is uncertain whether annual deforestation will show a general drop.
According to Silva’s deputy at the environment ministry, Joao Paulo Capobianco, “July tends to have an explosion in deforestation.”
The Brazilian government presented its strategies last month for fulfilling Lula’s promise to end deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, including a long list of initiatives like increased law enforcement, prosecution of environmental crimes, and green economic development.
In addition to the work being done by Norway and Germany through the so-called Amazon Fund, Lula has also attempted to encourage the richest nations in the world to contribute to projects aimed at protecting the Amazon.
As the South American trading organization Mercosur bargains a long-delayed free trade agreement with the European Union, environmental preservation is a crucial topic.
The four Mercosur nations have received fresh requests from the EU regarding the prevention of environmental crimes.
Source- Al Jazeera
