Brazil Faces Two Contrasting Legacies For Amazon In October’s Elections

"Polls indicate that Brazil’s presidential election in October will go to a runoff between incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in a duel likely to decide the fate of the Amazon Rainforest.

While Bolsonaro doubles down his climate change denialism and anti-Indigenous agenda, Lula vows to tackle deforestation and eject criminals from the Amazon.

Under Bolsonaro, the Brazilian Amazon has lost an area of forest larger than Belgium and recorded its highest deforestation rate in the last 15 years.

Lula’s policies helped reduce annual deforestation by 82%, to the lowest rate recorded since satellite monitoring began."

Aldem Bourscheit reports for Mongabay September 9, 2022.