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Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on Tuesday from Egypt to create an alliance for the protection of the Amazon basin, vital for the balance of the global climate. According to a new report from the NGO WWF, deforestation has increased by 18% between 2020 and 2021, only in Brazil. Petro’s call was joined by Nicolás Maduro, his Venezuelan peer. However, beyond good intentions, stopping deforestation in the Amazon will mean stopping various economic activities.
Deforestation is worsening in the Amazon and to reverse this trend, Colombian President Gustavo Petro called to “revitalize the Amazon” which he described as “the sponge that absorbs the most CO2 on the continent.” The Colombian president announced that his country will dedicate 200 million dollars annually to protect the Amazon forest. Petro received the backing of his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, to coordinate a regional initiative.
However, although the Colombian president has promised to suspend oil exploration, his Venezuelan counterpart seeks to reactivate oil production and has promoted the controversial Orinoco Mining Arc since 2016. A mining extraction project that covers 70,000 square km of forests.
“To the extent that Colombia, which is currently producing more oil than Venezuela, reduces or does not grant new concessions, in Venezuela we would be in the current development model. It would be promoting the increase in oil dependence and the extractivist mining economy”, points out Antonio de Lisio, geographer and coordinator of the Alliance for Climate Action in Venezuela.
“We always had, within the resources that have been valued, gold. However, a megaproject like the Orinoco Mining Arc had never been achieved and the damage that is being done to the protected natural areas of the Amazon and Venezuelan Guyana had never been done by mining extractivism ”, he emphasizes.
In addition to oil and mining extraction in Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, the Amazon rainforest suffers from illegal felling of trees, mainly in Peru, and from slash-and-burn deforestation to expand crops and livestock, mainly in Brazil. It will be the biggest environmental challenge for President Lula, who will begin his term in January, Ricardo Galvao, a physics professor at the University of São Paulo and former director of the INEP satellite observation institute, told RFI.
“There are about 29 criminal groups that operate in the Amazon, and not only in Brazil. The first thing that Lula must do is a very strong collaboration with the presidents of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru to achieve control of all the activity of criminal groups. The other very important part is achieving sustainable development in the Amazon because more than 30 million people live there,” Galvao estimates.
Following Lula’s electoral victory, Norway announced that it is ready to resume its considerable financial aid to protect the Aid suspended during the presidency of far-right Jair Bolsonaro. Lula’s return to the presidency raises hopes for those who want to protect the Amazon.
