Flávio Bolsonaro Win Could Reverse Brazil’s 71% Deforestation Drop, Threatening 5 Major Ecosystems
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 22
Flávio Bolsonaro Win Could Reverse Brazil’s 71% Deforestation Drop, Threatening 5 Major Ecosystems
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 22
Summary
Brazil’s runoff this week could put Flávio Bolsonaro in the presidency after he won the 4 October first round, raising fears of a renewed surge in forest clearing and attacks on Indigenous defenders.
A Bolsonaro victory would jeopardize Lula-era gains that cut Amazon deforestation 71% in four years, leaving annual clearing at one-sixth of its 1988 level and keeping zero deforestation by 2030 out of reach.
The warning draws on Jair Bolsonaro’s record: deforestation rose 59% during his four years in office as illegal ranchers, loggers and goldminers expanded and violence against forest communities increased.
Beyond the Amazon, the report says a far-right return could accelerate destruction in the Atlantic forest, Pantanal wetlands, Pampa grasslands and the Cerrado, turning Brazil’s election into a global climate and biodiversity test.