The Brazilian government will reinforce the presence of security forces in the Amazon to avoid environmental crimes such as deforestation and illegal extraction of minerals, official sources informed.
The Brazilian government will use resources from the Amazon Fund and the state-owned National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) to increase surveillance in the world’s largest rainforest, as explained the day before by the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino.
BNDES is the financial institution responsible for managing the Amazon Fund, which resumed this year with a cash flow of more than R$5.4 billion (about US$1.08 billion).
The fund is fed by resources from donations from foreign countries to promote projects for the protection of the biome.
The minister pointed out that the intention is to allocate R$1 billion (US$200 million) from the Amazon Fund through BNDES, added to R$700 million (US$140 million) from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security budget.
“We are asking for resources to multiply river bases, land bases, multiply, therefore, the presence in the territory with helicopters, drones, weaponry, and aircraft and face this new level of criminality in the Amazon. Satellite tracking is important, intelligence is vital, but we need a physical presence,” he stressed.
Between January and April 2023, according to Federal Police data, there was a 35.61 percent reduction in deforestation in the Amazon compared to the same period in 2022.
The Brazilian government will reinforce the presence of security forces in the Amazon to avoid environmental crimes such as deforestation and illegal extraction of minerals, official sources informed.