Brasília – The Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated today (6th) that Brazil is going to meet its goal of reducing deforestation in the Amazon by 80% "way before 2020." "Many people thought it was impossible," said he in his weekly radio show "Café com o Presidente" (Breakfast with the President).
To Lula, the 14% reduction in deforestation in the Amazon this year – the lowest rate in 22 years – paves the way for the target set in Copenhagen last year to be met.
"This is a lesson for everyone. The government has learned that it is not enough to just prohibit, it is not enough for the federal police to make arrests, or issue fines, there must be conversation and dialogue," he asserted. The president believes that it is important for federal government to get mayors and state governors involved, and to provide aid for the states to be able to develop without needing to deforest.
"We have realized that everyone participates and that results are more extraordinary than if we just prohibit or persecute," he claimed. "And that if there is deforestation, then let it be done carefully, with the correct handling of the forest," he finished off.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
