Lula Announces Plan to Combat Deforestation
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) announced this Monday (5th) the final text of the new PPCDAm Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon, one of the most anticipated axes of his government's environmental policy. The announcement comes amid the emptying of the Ministry of the Environment, led by Marina Silva. The portfolio had attributions withdrawn by the Brazilian National Congress in the last week without major resistance from the Planalto. The PPCDAm establishes guidelines for the protection of the Amazon rainforest over the next four years and is now in its fifth version with the goal of achieving zero deforestation by 2030. Environmentalists claim that, in order to meet this goal, which is considered bold, it is necessary for the organizations linked to the issue to be strengthened. However, the ruralist section of the Legislative decided to empty the ministries of the Environment and the one of the Indigenous Peoples and the government did not make efforts to revert the scenario.