The government's new decision threatens the "permanent protection zones" created in 2002 to
Environmentalists warned that the abolition of the rules would open up such land for development, with catastrophic consequences for their ecosystems.
“These areas are already under intensepressure from real estate tycoons, ”explains Mario Mantovani, head of SOS environmental group Mata Atlantica. "The 2002 rules at least protected them from further destruction," he said in an interview with AFP, calling their abolition "a crime against society."
The new ruling is part of a series of controversialenvironmental decisions by the far-right president, who has overseen the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal wetlands since taking office in January 2019.
In other decisions, the government also canceleda measure requiring environmental permits for irrigation projects, and the president has allowed cement companies to burn empty pesticide containers to be converted into concrete, which environmentalists say is highly polluting.
“Even when we are witnessing a recordenvironmental destruction in Brazil, President Salles is devoting his time to helping to deteriorate the situation, says an official statement from environmental group Greenpeace.
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