KEY POINTS
- Deforestation in the Amazon appears to have slowed since President Lula da Silva was sworn in.
- Lula has pledged to end net deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 2030.
- Some say this goal is likely to be a challenge, but not unattainable.
Brazil's Amazon has faced a relentless onslaught from loggers and miners over the past four years.
But deforestation finally appears to have been slowed, according to data from Brazilian government satellite activity.
From January to June of 2023, the Amazon rainforest had alerts for possible deforestation covering 2,650 square kilometres.
During the same period in 2022, those alerts were for 4,000 square kilometres.
While an area the size of Cairns has still been destroyed so far this year, Beto Mesquita, the forests and public policy director of Rio De Janeiro Green Grans, said the statistics represent good news.
“In recent years we have seen an increase in deforestation rates in the Amazon," he said. "And these consolidated figures comparing last year’s first six months to this year’s first six months, and comparing them to accumulated deforestation in 2022’s second semester to 2023’s first semester, it appears we’re seeing ... a reverse of deforestation trends.”
From January to June of 2023, the Amazon rainforest had alerts for possible deforestation covering 2,650 square kilometres. During the same period in 2022, those alerts were for 4,000 square kilometres. Source: AAP / AP
However, according to Environment Minister Marina Silva, it's anything but a coincidence.
"We have a result that, as I understand it, deserves to be celebrated," she said.
"There has been a 33 per cent reduction in deforestation over a six-month period. This is something that is encouraging for us because there's a declining trend that follows the goals set by the government."
Lula campaigned against Bolsonaro in last year's election with pledges to undo what he sold as environmental devastation occurring on Bolsonaro's watch.
Deforestation under Bolsonaro — labelled the "tropical Trump" by some — accelerated from when he became president in 2019 due to a slew of policies that bolstered logging, mining, and farming in the Amazon which were met with outrage by environmental and Indigenous land rights activists.
When Lula was previously in power from 2003 to 2010, deforestation in the Amazon declined dramatically. Even so, some have said he does not have a spotless environmental record.
Source: SBS News
It also called on him to pursue more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Will Lula struggle to achieve his goal to curb deforestation?
Mesquita said there is now a better effort to track what is going on in the Amazon.
"This can be seen as a result of the initial actions of command and control taken by current management," he said. "A series of measures that were taken in recent months namely related to strengthening audit activities."
Lula will need to work with Brazil's Indigenous Amazonian peoples to implement his promises, said Brendan Mackey, a professor at Griffith University and the director of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon.
"So long as the rule of law is in place, and as long as the agencies who work with the Indigenous tribes to protect their forests have the resources, we can expect to see this goal achieved," he said.
Lula has promised to end net deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 2030.
While half the Brazilian parliament is made up of forestry and mining MPs, this particular goal is a challenge, but not unattainable, Mackey said.
"There will be ... an ongoing struggle within his parliament and government to achieve this goal," he said. "But, that's the nature of politics everywhere, I guess. But, certainly, having a president who understands the value of their Amazonian forests is a critical, critical step in achieving this goal."
An agent from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) burns the machinery of an illegal mine, during an operation by the Brazilian authorities against deforestation and illegal mining, near Itaituba, Brasil, in February. Source: AAP, EPA / Andre Borges
These include agencies that can arrest, detain, and charge people undertaking illegal logging.
Mackey said much of what's needed to save the Amazon is a simple matter of resourcing.
"Under President Bolsonaro the funds were withdrawn from [relevant agencies], and they didn't have the resources to do that kind of preventative work," he said. "But, under President Lula, their capacity to do these kind of interventions has been re-instated."
The country's environment ministry noted that full-year results on deforestation prevention will depend on some challenging months ahead when logging is usually at its peak.
