Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell by 33.6% from January to June 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to official data released Thursday.

The fight against the destruction of the Amazon forest is among the main goals of the government of the center-left Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took over as president of Brazil on January 1.

Satellite images from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) recorded deforestation of 2,649 square kilometers in the first half of the year, up from 3,988 square kilometers from January to June 2022.

At the time, far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was still in power, and he was heavily criticized for the way he managed the Amazon forest.

“We have reached a steady downward trend in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest,” the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, said with satisfaction during a press conference yesterday.

According to her, this result is the result of “President Lula’s decision to make the fight against climate change and deforestation a government policy”.

In June alone, deforestation was reduced by 41% compared to 2022.

Since his re-election, Lula has promised to reverse his predecessor’s environmental policies and aims to end illegal deforestation by 2030.

During the term of Jáich Bolsonaro (2019-2022), the average annual deforestation of the Amazon forest increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.

In June, Lula revealed his plan on the issue, which foresees, among other things, the immediate confiscation of half of the zones where illegal exploitations take place (agricultural, livestock, mining, logging…), to designate protected areas with a total area of ​​some 30,000,000 hectares as in 2027, as well as hiring thousands of subject matter experts.

His announcements followed a decision by the Brazilian parliament to significantly reduce the portfolio of the environment ministry, stripping it of its powers in land registry, surveillance of agricultural lands and water resources.

While the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples lost the responsibility to designate new protected indigenous areas, which are seen as a breakwater of deforestation.

To achieve his goals, Lula is trying to convince the richest countries to finance the protection of the rainforest. Norway and Germany have already contributed funding to the Amazon Fund, which was previously created on its own initiative.

Despite the encouraging data for the Amazon rainforest, “we continue to have very high levels of deforestation,” noted Daniel Silva of the Brazilian branch of the non-governmental organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Brasil).

According to experts, the real test for the Lula government is the coming months, the dry season (July-September), when both deforestation and fires in the Amazon peak.

The environment is at the heart of the renewed and ongoing negotiations between Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela) and the European Union to ratify a free trade agreement. The EU recently called on Latin American countries to be tougher in the fight against environmental crimes. However, some of her recommendations are causing reactions.