Agribusiness-friendly states in Brazil try to undo forest protections

abcnews.go.com:

Several states in Brazil are trying to rid themselves of rainforest protections, bowing to pressures from cattle ranchers and soybean growers to cut forest and expand agriculture as much as possible

BRASILIA, Brazil — Several states in Brazil are trying to rid themselves of rainforest protections, bowing to pressure from cattle ranchers and soybean growers to cut down trees and expand agriculture.

Their efforts run counter to those of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who returned to power last year and has made significant strides in curbing Amazon deforestation. They also threaten Brazil’s commitment to halt deforestation by 2030. Loss of forest is the country’s largest source of carbon emissions.

“We are detecting a well-coordinated wave of setbacks. The efforts to reduce deforestation remain highly fragile in some regions,” said Alice Thuault, executive director of Instituto Centro de Vida, an environmental nonprofit based in Mato Grosso state. A coalition of organizations that keeps watch on supply chains, the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi), also referred to the trend as “a major setback.”

Brazil’s nine Amazonian states are crucial for preserving forest. Together, they manage almost 220,000 square miles (564,000 square kilometers) of conservation lands and 12,600 square miles (32,600 square kilometers) of public forests that have no protective designation, a total area roughly the size of Ukraine.

In Acre state, a law approved unanimously in August allows the privatization of almost 347 square miles (900 square kilometers) of protected forest, an area approximately the size of New York City. The stated goal is to legalize the status of people who have illegally moved into five forested conservation