AGUA CLARA, Brazil — Forest loss in Brazil’s Amazon dropped by 30.6 percent compared to the previous year, officials said, the lowest level of destruction in nine years.
The results, announced in Brazil’s presidential palace, sharply contrast with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s predecessor, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who prioritized agribusiness expansion over forest protection and weakened environmental agencies. Deforestation hit a 15-year high during his term.
Despite the success in curbing Amazon deforestation, Lula’s government has been criticized by environmentalists for backing projects that could harm the region, such as the pavement of a highway that cuts from an old-growth area, oil drilling in the mouth of the Amazon River and building a railway to transport soy to Amazonian ports.
Source: headtopics.com
