The government plans to provide financial aid to 30,000 families as part of its initiative to preserve the Amazon. In the future, the plan intends to expand to more communities.
Lula da Silva’s leftist government has announced the launch of a social program that helps vulnerable families working to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Years ago, a program with similar characteristics was revoked by the former president of Brazil, the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).
The new program, called “Bolsa Verde” (an ecological version of the “Bolsa Familia” program), will be implemented in 30,000 families in the Brazilian Amazon. The government intends to expand it to other biomes of the Brazilian cerrado, such as the Cerrado or the Atlantic Forest, currently threatened by high rates of illegal deforestation and other environmental crimes.
“These families will receive aid from the State as payment for the services they provide for the protection of the environment. About 80% of the world’s protected forests are under the control of these traditional communities. This has to do with recognizing the role that these communities play in maintaining preserved ecosystem services.“, said the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva.
Although no further details have yet been given on the amount of the subsidy or the date of its launch, it is clear that the program will aim to benefit traditional communities that live in the jungle without cutting down trees and that are dedicated to the collection of fruits or plants for medicinal use. .
Zero deforestation by 2030 to preserve the Amazon
This program is part of the measures announced days ago by Lula as part of his promise to stop deforestation by the year 2030. The new policy contemplates the creation of new areas of environmental protection and the possibility that 50% of land illegally deforested will be confiscated.
Lula will continue to protect the native peoples, who are the most suitable”jungle guardians“. It will also allocate resources to various environmental control agencies.
Lula’s recent defeats
Although the president’s environmental plans have suffered some setbacks, this is due to the presence of conservative forces present in Congress. The courts are a stronghold of Bolsonarism and can be a powerful partner for us to work together.
Proof of this is the approval by parliamentarians of the Environment and Indigenous Affairs portfolios last week.
Management of the cadastre, where all rural properties must be registered and which serves to map invasions and control deforested areas, was removed from the first folder.
The second was deprived of the power to demarcate the lands of the original peoples in order to pass the competition to the Ministry of Justice.
Deputies also approved a controversial bill that establishes the thesis of the ‘provisional framework’. If ancestral peoples cannot prove they were in their territory before 1988, they could be expelled from it.
The text awaits approval in the Senate. An important judgment of this thesis was resumed by the Federal Supreme Court and its decision will impact hundreds of indigenous lands pending demarcation.
With information from: https://actualidad.rt.com/