In Lula’s Brazil, Amazon Deforestation Rises for First Time in 15 Months

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rose in July, breaking a 15-month streak of falling destruction under President Luiz Inacio da Silva, preliminary government data showed on Wednesday, amid a strike by environmental workers. Roughly 666 sq km (257 sq miles) of jungle were cleared in July, 33% higher than the 500 square km for the same month last year, according to preliminary data announced by the Environment Ministry and Science Ministry. Despite the increase, Amazon deforestation levels are still far lower under Lula than his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Joao Capobianco, Brazil’s vice minister for environment, said that a drought in the Amazon, the environmental workers’ strike and the fact that it is a municipal election year which tends to correlate with increased destruction. Apart from July, he emphasized that deforestation has otherwise been falling.

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