Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest increased in July after a 15-month streak of reduction under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. While the current president has made significant improvements to Brazil’s deforestation problem, a recent strike organized by environmental inspectors and other civil servants who enforce environmental policies has allowed illegal logging, mining, and land-grabbing to increase. According to Reuters, João Capobianco, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment in Brazil, also cited a drought and this year’s upcoming municipal elections as reasons for the spike in destruction. According to environmental news outlet Mongabay, President Lula saw a 62% decrease in deforestation in 2023, the first year of his second term as president. He has promised to eliminate deforestation in Brazil entirely by 2030. The Brazilian Amazon has experienced large-scale deforestation since the 1960s, and in 2021, under former president Jair Bolsonaro, the destruction hit a 15-year high. Bolsonaro encouraged deforestation by criticizing preservationists, advocating for the exploitation of indigenous lands, and loosening environmental restrictions. Prior to his 2019 election, he had said that “where there is indigenous land, there is wealth underneath it.” Government workers involved in environmental inspection and law enforcement are frequently subject to violence from those involved in illegal activity in the Amazon. Inspectors and civil servants wear bulletproof vests and are trained to use guns when confronting criminals. Workers cite the danger of their occupation and lack of proper support and compensation from the government as the reasons behind the most recent strike, which began in June. President Lula’s administration does not seem to be prioritizing a compromise with the workers, and the strike has continued.

While promises from Lula and the reduction of deforestation throughout 2023 are encouraging in the fight against illegal loggers, land-grabbers, and miners, the government has again become an obstacle to progress due to its unwillingness to come to an agreement with environmental inspectors and civil servants. In addition to the dissatisfaction of the government workers, the scale of criminal activity is too large for the number of inspectors and enforcement officers. Wallace Lopes, federal agent of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (I.B.A.M.A.) and director of Ascema, the union which represents federal environmental workers, told Mongabay that “[we] have one inspector for an area the size of Denmark. It’s a very insane reality.” The lack of resources in enforcement, as well as the remote nature of the Amazon, has led to crimes that largely go unpunished. According to Human Rights Watch, the Pastoral Land Commission has registered over 300 killings in the Brazilian Amazon since 2009, and of those cases only 14 went to trial. The government’s lack of action in the Amazon regarding illicit activity has encouraged criminals to continue exploiting the forest. The destruction has caused parts of the Amazon to dry out, leading to more significant fires and harming the forest’s ability to recover following droughts. In 2019, Brazil was offered significant aid to fight large fires that were bolstered by deforestation; Bolsonaro, however, rejected the offer. The Amazon provides between 6 and 9 percent of the world’s oxygen and absorbs a significant amount of carbon dioxide. Reuters reported that some scientists believe that the “tipping point” at which the forest would become unable to sustain itself is somewhere between 20 and 25 percent deforestation, and today, the destruction is somewhere between 17 and 20 percent. The lack of urgency on the part of Brazil’s government is not something that the Amazon can afford.

President Lula must begin by allocating more resources to environmental inspectors and enforcement officers to meet the demands of the strike. If the government cannot exercise its authority against criminal activity in the Amazon, it cannot hope to make significant reductions to deforestation. Following this, incentives must be provided for new environmental workers to increase the number of those working on the front lines. Extra safety measures, precautions, and support can give greater assurance to workers in these important jobs that have been dangerous in the past. Brazil and other Amazonian countries must also be open to accepting aid, and the international community must provide it. The forest is important to the global climate and its destruction must be treated as a transnational issue. Long-term plans must be made to shift Brazil’s exports and provide other, more sustainable work for those involved in illegal activity in the Amazon. Many village economies within the forest are entirely centered around logging, mining, and cattle farming on deforested land. While criminal activity is an environmental issue, the livelihoods of those who participate will need to shift for sustainable change and peace in the region. Demand for soy and beef, particularly from the United States and China, has contributed to deforestation as Brazilians work to provide these exports. As the global population increases and natural resources endure greater strain, short-term economic gain will continue to oppose long-term sustainability. In a political landscape where countries are increasingly turning inwards and away from globalization, international cooperation and sustainability efforts will be essential. Nations will need to be thoughtful about the location of certain industries in terms of sustainability in addition to economic growth. In the Brazilian Amazon, industries that are detrimental to the forest and the global climate have become lifelines for those who work in them, and they provide goods that the rest of the world consumes. The Brazilian government will need to work domestically and collaborate internationally to both sustain the life of the forest and the lives of those who are involved in these industries.