After more than a decade of record-breaking deforestation across the Amazon Basin, rates declined in 2023 compared to the previous year. Measures to curb deforestation were led by Brazil and Colombia, whose newly elected presidents publicly pledged to end deforestation by 2030. While these reductions provided temporary respite, there are signs that anti-deforestation efforts are faltering and the risks of a tipping point and catastrophic collapse persist. Flagship programs and projects to strengthen the rule of law in the Amazon, while generating short-term returns, are spread thin, lack adequate financing, and are not widely supported at the municipal level. Despite a proliferation of regional and national commitments, evidence of real impact is in short supply. Primary forest loss across the Amazon Basin since 2002. At the center of government-led efforts to reduce deforestation are measures to protect and conserve forests and nature; promote alternative “green” development; and strengthen the rule of law. Most of the energy is focused on pairing a (small) pipeline of projects with a (massive) reservoir of potential finance. Less attention and investment is devoted to sensitive public security matters which are widely treated as “outside” the climate and environment space. Even so, public security forces and environmental protection agencies across the Amazon are overwhelmed by an ecosystem of environmental crimes such as land grabbing, illegal mining, selective logging, wildlife trafficking, and illicit agriculture and ranching, all of which accelerate forest and biodiversity loss. Tremendous challenges are also associated with informal land tenure, pervasive corruption, and money…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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