Brazil announces measures to expand protection of the Amazon

In a ceremony celebrating World Environment Day at Brasilia's Planalto Palace on Monday (5), Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced measures to strengthen the protection of the Amazon Rainforest and other Brazilian biomes, reduce deforestation, and combat global warming.

We must tell loggers in Brazil that if they want to cut down trees, they have to plant them first. A 300-year-old tree cannot be felled. In the land of the Brazilian people, we will be adamant when enforcing the law
LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA
Brazilian President

Alongside Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment, and other Brazilian ministers – as well as Amazon state governors and representatives of environmental entities and traditional communities – the President signed a set of eight decrees towards the resumption of Brazil's leadership in mitigating climate change and controlling deforestation and said that the country would once again become a world reference in sustainability and in tackling climate change.

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"This is the commitment I reaffirm today. It's a commitment not only to the population of Brazil but to all peoples who are facing or will face the most severe weather events of all time".

The ceremony included an emotional tribute to Brazilian indigenist Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips, both murdered in the Amazon a year ago. In the presence of their families, Lula announced Brazil's new Amazon Security and Sovereignty Plan – which will combat land grabbing, illegal mining, and logging, as well as hunting and fishing within indigenous territories, environmental protection areas, and the entire Amazon biome.

"Bruno and Dom deserved to be here today – and indeed they should be here – with the Brazilian government as their ally and not their enemy. The best way to honor them is to ensure that their struggle was not in vain," said Lula.

The new security plan foresees measures such as the creation of the National Public Security Force's Environmental Operations Company (Companhia de Operações Ambientais da Força Nacional de Segurança Pública), the establishment of integrated riverine and terrestrial bases to strengthen public security services in the region; and modernization of barracks that belong to police forces operating within the Legal Amazon.

"We must tell loggers in Brazil that if they want to cut down trees, they have to plant them first. A 300-year-old tree cannot be felled. In the land of the Brazilian people, we will be adamant when enforcing the law".

One of the decrees signed by Lula establishes a National Council for the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP-30) (Conselho Nacional para a 30ª Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas) to organize the event that Brazil will host in Belém in 2025. The capital of the state of Pará will receive heads of state for the world's most important climate forum.

CONSERVATION — Other decrees also strengthen environmental protection, including measures such as the creation of the 61-thousand-hectare Serra do Teixeira National Park (Parque Nacional da Serra do Teixeira) in the state of Paraíba; 1800-hectare expansion of the Chocoaré-Mato Grosso Extractive Reserve (Reserva Extrativista Chocoaré-Mato Grosso), a conservation area in the state of Pará; and updating of Brazil's low-carbon industry technical committee to promote transition of the productive sector to a low-carbon economy.

A decree reestablishing Brazil's Interministerial Committee on Climate Change (Comitê Interministerial sobre Mudança do Clima) was also signed. The committee will monitor the implementation of government measures and public policies as part of Brazil's National Policy on Climate Change (Política Nacional sobre a Mudança do Clima).

A decree was also signed altering the managing committee of the National Fund on Climate Change (Fundo Nacional sobre Mudanças Climáticas) by expanding its institutional representativeness – through greater social participation – and adjusting its operating procedures. Lastly, a decree updating the instrument that creates the National Commission for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions resulting from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (Comissão Nacional para Redução das Emissões de Gases de Efeito Estufa provenientes do Desmatamento e da Degradação Florestal) was signed.

ATLANTIC FOREST — As part of the set of measures, Lula also sanctioned a bill that extends deadlines for adherence to Brazil's Environmental Regularization Program (Programa de Regularização Ambiental) – and vetoed devices that made protection of the Atlantic Rainforest weaker. "The environment has once again become a priority following four years of neglect and abandonment. It has become a priority again because survival – not only of our country but of our planet – depends to a large extent on how Brazil takes care of its biomes, especially the Amazon," said Lula, highlighting that the country has resumed an active foreign policy and is again the protagonist of global discussions involving climate change.

Ricardo Stuckert (PR)

BOLSA VERDE — Lula and Marina Silva also signaled a resumption of Brazil's Bolsa Verde, a benefit that the government offers to vulnerable families who live within traditional communities, including measures for preserving nature.

In a conversation with journalists, the minister stated that around 80% of Brazil's protected forests are harbored within the lands of traditional communities. "This has to do with recognizing the need to preserve ecosystems," she said.

According to Marina, an initial 30,000 families in the Amazon will begin to receive the benefit – which will also be offered to communities in other biomes. The minister estimated that up to 100,000 families currently make a living from extractive activities.

PRESERVATION PLAN — The minister also highlighted progress by the government with environmental protection in 2023 and delivered the Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon (Plano de Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento da Amazônia) to the President. According to Marina, each biome will have its own deforestation prevention and control plans.

"This is a day to reaffirm our commitment to the environmental agenda, to zero deforestation, to tackling climate change, to the ecological transition to a sustainable development model, to a transversal environmental policy, and to the strengthening of Brazil's national environment system, including the resumption of the creation of environmental conservation areas", said the minister.