Leonardo DiCaprio praises Lula and criticizes Bolsonaro for historic drop in deforestation in the Amazon

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio used social networks to again praise President Lula (PT) regarding the drop in deforestation in the Amazon. In the same post, the Hollywood star criticized the former administration of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for having weakened local protection policies and indigenous rights.

In the post, DiCaprio shared a montage that indicates the drop in deforestation in 2023 and wrote that under Lula, deforestation in the Amazon in April 2023 was 68% lower than in 2022. In the publication, he also placed a text about the Institute’s data National Space Research (Inpe) which states that the drop occurred after two months of increased deforestation in February and March, but that year on year, deforestation still fell 40% overall.

In addition, the publication also reports that Bolsonaro had relaxed enforcement against deforestation in the Amazon and that this had reached its highest level in 15 years under his administration.

_{Leonardo DiCaprio alongside indigenous people. (Photo: reproduction/Leo Otero/Instagram @leonardodicaprio)}

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio even praised President Lula in May of this year for the demarcation of six indigenous lands. In the publication, he went so far as to pin Bolsonaro, stating that progress happened after the previous government not only paralyzed the demarcations, but violated the rights of the country’s indigenous peoples.

In 2022, deforestation in the Amazon broke a record, as the vegetation cover of the forest lost 10,573 km², the equivalent of almost 3,000 soccer fields per day, according to the report released by the Amazon Institute for Man and Environment (Imazon ).

In June of this year, the federal government even announced new goals for the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). The project was created in 2004 during Lula’s first government. The president even promised to eliminate illegal deforestation in the Amazon by 2030.

Featured Photo: Leonardo DiCaprio. Playback/Instagram/@leonardodicaprio