As the coronavirus pandemic eats its way into the Amazon, raising fears of a genocide of its vulnerable indigenous tribes, the government of the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, and its supporters are dismantling rules shielding protected reserves. Key environment officials have been sacked, and environmentalists and indigenous leaders fear the pandemic is being used as a smokescreen for a new assault on the rainforest.
Deforestation in Brazil began rising in 2013, after a decade of decline and a year after an overhaul of Brazil’s forest code by the leftist president Dilma Rousseff included an amnesty for people who deforested before 2008. Under Bolsonaro, deforestation has rocketed, reaching 9,800 square kilometres in the year to July 2019.
Environmentalists said reducing protection and encouraging invasions of protected areas risked more violence against those who defend them.
Source: Guardian
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