The election of Lula as president of Brazil has so far apparently done nothing: deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has set a record for the month of February, according to incomplete official data available on Friday.
The satellite monitoring device has detected 209 square kilometers destroyed in the Brazilian part of the largest tropical forest in the world, according to preliminary data from the DETER monitoring system of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
This area, equivalent to more than 29,000 football fields, only includes data compiled up to February 17 but it was already higher than the previous record of 199 km2 destroyed in February 2022, the last year of the government of the former president of extreme right Jair Bolsonaro.
Satellite monitoring had recorded a 61% drop in January compared to the same period in 2022. But environmental organizations had warned that it was premature to speak of a “
trend reversal
” because observations may have been hampered. by denser cloud cover.
“
The increase in deforestation may be a reflection of the limits of detection last month due to cloud cover and what is observed today may compile both the area destroyed this month and also since. January
,” Daniel Silva, conservation specialist at the NGO WWF-Brazil, told AFP.
Read alsoMore than a third of the already very degraded Amazon forest
Consequences of the Bolsonaro government
Under the Bolsonaro government, an ally of the powerful agribusiness lobby, the average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has jumped 75.5% compared to the previous decade.
This destruction is essentially the result of farmers wanting to increase their land for crops and livestock, activities whose development Jair Bolsonaro has always encouraged.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 77, took office as President of Brazil in early January - for the third time - making forest protection one of his priorities in order to allow his country to no longer be a “
pariah
” on climate issues.
The left-wing president has appointed Marina Silva, a renowned environmentalist who was already in charge of this portfolio between 2003 and 2008, when Brazil succeeded in considerably reducing deforestation, to head the Ministry of the Environment.
On January 24, Marina Silva admitted to AFP that the environmental reality in Brazil was "
worse
" than expected.
"
We know that the new government is committed to controlling deforestation but it will take time to see concrete results
," added the WWF-Brazil expert.
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