Government figures released on Friday show that deforestation increased by a whopping 150 per cent in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in December, compared to the same period last year. Incidentally, December was the last month of Jair Bolsonaro in the president’s office.
According to the national space agency’s DETER surveillance programme, over 218.4 square kilometres of forest cover, nearly four times that of Manhattan was destroyed in a single month alone.
Comparatively, in December 2021, the deforestation figure stood at 87.2 square kilometres. According to experts, the stark contrast in the size of the forest destroyed paints a clear picture that the Amazon, also referred to as the ‘world’s lungs’ had been huffing and puffing under Bolsonaro’s rule.
Bolsonaro and his insensitive development policy came at the cost of compromising the Amazon. Under his rule, deforestation in the Amazon rose by 75.5 per cent from the previous decade,
The previous Bolsonaro administration reduced the funding for environmental organisations, curtailed their ability to fight crime, and hampered the process for issuing environmental fines.
According to experts, under Bolsonaro, farmers, and ranchers were able to damage the forest without facing consequences.
The far-right leader’s successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who took over the president position earlier this week has a tough task ahead to reverse the damage done in the last four years. However, if his past record is anything to go by, there is hope.
When Lula previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, a sharp drop in deforestation was observed. He was the one who started the ‘Amazon Fund’ for conserving the forest.
Upon taking over the presidential office one of the initial decrees passed by Lula was the reinstatement of the Amazon Fund’s governing board.
Norway, one of the biggest donors to the fund on Wednesday announced the revival of the initiative for backing the protection of the forest after Lula took charge.
“Brazil’s new President has signalled a clear ambition to stop deforestation by 2030,” said Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian minister of climate and environment before adding, “He has reinstated strategies to make this happen, and appointed ministers with substantial knowledge and expertise in the area.”
Lula, in his short time in office, has passed decrees re-establishing the nation’s strategies to reduce deforestation and revoked previous government policies.
(With inputs from agencies)
