Brazil’s President Lula Works to Stop Amazon Deforestation

Brazil’s President Lula Works to Stop Amazon Deforestation

Brazil's New President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is putting environmental activists¹ in top government positions.

For example, Joenia Wapichana is becoming the first indigenous² woman to lead the country's Indigenous Affairs office. She will start the job in February when Lula swears her in.

Lula won the last election over former President Jair Bolsonaro.

But Wapichana is already getting started. On a recent day, the Associated Press reported that she walked through all the agency's rooms shaking a traditional rattle³, or noisemaker.

She was asking for help from her ancestors in a cleansing⁴ ceremony. As she walked through the offices, indigenous people working there followed her, saying: "Yoohoo, Funai is ours." Funai is the name of the agency, the National Indigenous People Foundation.

Critics said the agency's past leaders did not do enough to protect the Amazon rain forest.

In 2022, a satellite image study showed that deforestation – the term for removing trees – increased during Bolsonaro's presidency⁵. Some environmental groups say deforestation was taking place at a slower rate in Brazil before he took office.

Lula is putting people like Wapichana into jobs where they can help grow protected areas for indigenous people and limit deforestation.

George Porto Ferreira is a researcher for Ibama, Brazil's environmental law-enforcement agency. He said Lula added employees who can "reverse all the environmental destruction" during the Bolsonaro government.

Some are concerned, however, that Lula will not be able to do everything he wants. Lula did not do such a good job during his past presidential terms. In addition, some Bolsonaro supporters still govern large Amazon states, and they will not easily change their policies. Bolsonaro's supporters think Lula's ideas will hurt the economy by restricting land development.

One of Lula's biggest moves so far was appointing Marina Silva to lead Brazil's environmental ministry⁶. Silva is a former rubber collector, or tapper, from Acre state. She led the ministry from 2003 to 2008 during Lula's former presidency. She resigned after a conflict with government and farm leaders who did not like her development restrictions⁷.

Lula has made other moves to support the Amazon's native people and the environment. The changes include restarting the Amazon Fund, ending a Bolsonaro action that permitted mining in indigenous and protected areas and creating an indigenous peoples' ministry.

Sonia Guajajara will lead the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples. She is the first indigenous woman to hold such an important job in the government.

She said: "It won't be easy to overcome 504 years in only four years. But we are willing to use this moment to promote a take-back of Brazil's spiritual force."

One of Lula's goals is to end deforestation by 2030. However, the new government's goals will not be easy to reach. Bolsonaro supporters govern six of the nine Amazon states.

One problem is illegal gold mining in the Amazon. It will be hard to end because it produces a lot of money and work. Mining employs thousands of people in Brazil, Peru and Venezuela. The mining has poisoned water with mercury. The unsafe water hurts people who drink it and catch fish in the rivers close to the mines.

Gustavo Geiser is a crime investigator⁸ who has worked with the Brazilian Federal Police for 15 years. He said a main reason for the problems is "the state's absence."

Supporters say the president can expand indigenous territories. Lula is being asked to create 13 new territories, a process that slowed under Bolsonaro, who said he would not give any more land to indigenous people.

The first step may be to expand the area of Uneiuxi, an area that is home to 23 indigenous groups. A signature by Lula will increase the area by 37 percent, finishing a process that started nearly 40 years ago.

Words in This Story

indigenous –adj. used to describe a native person

reverse –v. to change to an opposite state or condition

promote –v. to support action aiming to bring about a certain result

absence –n. a state in which something is expected but missing

signature –n. a person's written name on a document

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

4 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。