Brazilian environmental agents used machetes to cut through the rainforest in search of criminals on Thursday, the first anti-deforestation raids under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to end the rampant destruction left by his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Reuters exclusively covered raids led by the environmental agency Ibama in the rainforest state of Para to stop illegal logging and ranching.
The convoy reached five areas that were deforested and burned around the time of last October’s election, which pitted Lula against Bolsonaro, in 12 hours of driving on dirt roads illegally crisscrossing an indigenous reserve.
The areas were all located within the Cachoeira Seca indigenous reserve, which strictly prohibits deforestation.
Four of the tracts appeared to have been abandoned, with no signs of people living nearby or converting them to ranches. Agents speculated that it could be a sign that illegal ranchers abandoned their plans to invest time and money in converting illegal land into productive pasture, knowing that Lula campaigned on a promise to combat deforestation.
‘People know that in this government, enforcement will tighten and they won’t be able to use an area they illegally deforested,’ said Givanildo dos Santos Lima, the agent in charge of Ibama’s Uruara mission.
‘You would have found people here, well-maintained pastures, and cattle if the other government had won.’
During Ibama’s four years in office, the government under Bolsonaro reduced staff and funding for environmental enforcement, while the former president criticised Ibama for issuing fines to farmers and miners.
Bolsonaro delegated authority over deforestation operations to the military and, later, the Justice Ministry, sidelining Ibama despite the agency’s extensive experience and success in combating Amazon destruction.
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