Brazilian Amazon: Deforestation dropped by at least 60% in July compared to the same month last year in the forest, according to the environment minister, Marina Silva, told The Guardian.
The official statistics based on the Deter satellite alert system will be announced in the upcoming days, but preliminary data indicate that the Amazon, known as the world's lungs, has seen a spectacular reversal.
The findings come ahead of a conference for the region that will be held in Belém and include eight countries with rainforests: Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname. The summit's goal is to stop the Amazon, the largest biosphere in South America, from reaching a catastrophic tipping point.
In large part, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been able to rectify the harm and destruction that Jair Bolsonaro inflicted on the Amazon ecosystem while in office.
According to research published last month, deforestation decreased by 34% in the first half of the year. Under Bolsonaro last year, the rainforest decreased by 4,000 square kilometers, an area about the size of Rhode Island; by contrast, under Lula, it shrank by 2,650 km.
The protection of the Amazon was one of Lula's main campaign pledges during the presidential campaign. His administration has levied significant fines totaling more than $400 million since taking office.
Deforestation control secretary at Brazil's Environment Ministry, Joao Paulo Capobianco, said, “The effort of reversing the curve of growth has been reached. That is a fact: we reversed the curve; deforestation isn’t increasing.”
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