Lula's presidency builds up global hopes of saving Amazon rainforest

Hopes of protecting the Amazon rainforest from further destruction, at a time when the dual climate and biodiversity crises are commanding global attention, have got a sorely needed boost following the inauguration of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazil's new President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, waves at supporters after receiving the presidential sash after his inauguration ceremony at the National Congress, in Brasilia, on January 1, 2023. AFP - EVARISTO SA

During his first speech to Congress on 1 January, Lula said Brazil did not "need to deforest" the world’s most important ecosystem to support the country’s agricultural sector, repeating his goal of "zero deforestation”.

Lula’s second presidency, which begins two decades after he first took up the job, comes after deforestation rates in Brazil surged by 60 percent under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula said Bolsonaro’s far-right leadership had left “terrible ruins” among Brazil’s institutions, destroying environmental protections, as he vowed to undo the harm caused.

Great expectations

Lula concedes the international community wants to see strong gestures in the defence of the Amazon following Bolsonaro's tumultuous four years in office.

“The world expects Brazil to once again become a leader in tackling the climate crisis and an example of a socially and environmentally responsible country,” Lula said.

“There is no need to cut down a single tree. Just replant the 30 million hectares of land that have been degraded. This way we will be able to live without cutting wood, without burning, and without the need to invade our ecosystems."

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Paulo Moutinho, a scientist at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute in the Brazilian city of Belém, says immediate action must be taken to curb deforestation, with large areas of public forests in need of urgent protection measures.

“We are talking about 56 million hectares of well-preserved forests – that's the size of Spain,” Moutinho told Lucile Gimberg of RFI's science service. 

“If the government decides to allocate these lands to conservation or make them lands for indigenous peoples, this would drastically and quickly reduce deforestation rates within a year or two.”

Amazon emitting carbon

Under Bolsonaro, who was hostile towards indigenous landowners and actively promoted industry, parts of the Amazon became a source of carbon rather than a carbon sink.

Research showed the vast majority of carbon was coming from areas of the Amazon that were not indigenous territories or protected lands, with experts warning that illegal activities and lack of rule of law were also putting protected lands at risk.

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“Illegal gold mining and logging, overgrown public forests, drug and arms trafficking ... this organised crime must be eliminated from the Amazon,” Moutinho says, adding that investments in the protection of nature needed to be prioritised. 

“This is called the bioeconomy in Brazil … making sustainable use of the wealth of Amazonian biodiversity."

Forest defenders enter cabinet

In a bid to ramp up protection for indigenous territories, Lula – a 77-year-old leftist – has named two prominent Amazon defenders as ministers in his new government.

His most emblematic appointment is Marina Silva, who takes up the reins as environment and climate minister – a job she already held from 2003 to 2008, when she was widely credited with a dramatic drop in deforestation. 

Fifteen years after quitting over Lula’s ties to agribusiness, the now 64-year-old – who was born in the Amazon – is an ally once again, having supported Lula’s presidential campaign.

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Meanwhile indigenous woman Sonia Guajajara becomes Brazil’s first minister of indigenous peoples, a portfolio created to respond to growing assaults and land invasions against indigenous people and the loss of their environmental protections.

Indigenous leader Sonia Guajajara from the Guajajara ethnic group shows her hands painted in red symbolizing blood, during a protest against Violence, illegal logging, mining and ranching, and to demand government protection for their reserves, one day before the celebration of "Amazon Day," in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. AP - Andre Penner

Guajajara described her appointment as a “landmark” moment in the "struggle and resistance" of indigenous people.

“The creation of the ministry for indigenous peoples is proof of President Lula’s commitment to safeguarding our autonomy and space to take decisions about our territories, our bodies and our ways of life,” she said.