Lula loses no time on rainforest protection

Days into his third term and second stint as president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva moved quickly to enact policies to protect the rainforest and indigenous lands.

The leftist leader, generally known as Lula, assumed power on Jan 1. The next day, Lula reinstituted a fund to protect forests in the country. He also instituted new protections for indigenous lands.

"Lula has already made several changes in the first days of the year," Ana Luiza Tunes, an environmental engineer and water management specialist in Brazil, said.

"Lula brought together indigenous (people), indigenists, social movements, NGOs, scientists, environmentalists, ruralists, liberals, press, left, center and right around themes that were never unanimous: zero deforestation, greening agribusiness, ensuring the protection of Indigenous peoples and facing the agenda of climate change, with all weapons."

Going forward, Lula might have to continue taking decisive action in the face of a strong opposition and as head of a divided country, with his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro never conceding his election defeat.

Rob de Laet, project manager at the Plan for a Bioeconomy for the Amazon initiative, said there are some early indications that Lula will take environmental protection seriously, with the appointment of Marina Silva as the environment minister.

"Silva, the ex — and now new minister of environment and climate, has a wonderful track record of slowing down deforestation, which she will surely do again, now with a host of new technological means to do monitoring and quick interventions," de Laet said.

But he added that "we will not see change overnight" as "a lot of the on-the-ground structures have been degraded".

Silva, an Amazon rainforest defender, ran the environment ministry between 2003 and 2008 during Lula's previous terms as Brazilian president.

During Bolsonaro's four-year term as president, he implemented a whole series of pro-business policies that allegedly led to weakened environmental protection policies. Lula campaigned on reversing those changes, and moved quickly to implement social and environmental policies during his first week in office.

William Magnusson, a senior researcher with the biodiversity unit at the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus in Amazonas state, said Lula's record in relation to the Amazon is impressive.

"Nobody expects him to do worse this time," Magnusson said. "I am sure that things will go better."

Pedro Henrique Tunes, a biologist and science communicator in Brazil, said Lula's election win is being viewed as a cause for hope for Brazil's environment.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.