Lula's Government Oversees Major Drop in Deforestation as Q&A Highlights Environmental Wins

UPDATE - follow-up to Reader Q&A: After Lula's sensational victory in Brazil's presidential election, the Guardian's Latin America correspondent answers your questions: Brazil has seen a historic reduction in logging and deforestation under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, spanning both the Amazon and the Cerrado savannah.

Environmental Push

This drop followed four years of severe environmental destruction under former president Jair Bolsonaro, who ruled from 2019 to 2022 and dismantled the environmental agency Ibama. Lula's environmental push was led by former environment minister Marina Silva, who expressed deep relief that indigenous territories would now be protected from illegal miners. However, environmental advocates face a tough road ahead due to a hostile Congress, with the Climate Observatory warning that 64 of Brazil's 81 senators and 345 of the 513 lower house lawmakers are hostile to environmental protections.

Context

Environmental protection policies in Brazil heavily depend on central government enforcement agencies and ministerial leadership. Deforestation rates typically rise or fall based on how strictly federal authorities police protected lands and punish illegal mining and logging.