Its environmental-enforcement agency hobbled by budget cuts, Brazil has put the military in charge of combating a surge in Amazon deforestation. The crackdown comes amid estimates that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon was 64% greater last month than in April 2019, and 55% greater in the first four months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. In a decree issued on May 6, President Jair Bolsonaro ordered the Armed Forces to coordinate operations to curb tree felling, the deliberate setting of fires and other forms of destruction by illegal loggers, land grabbers, wildcat miners and others. The areas targeted for enforcement are national and state parks and forests, indigenous reserves and public forests not designated for protection. The decree, short on details, said the crackdown, called “Operation Green Brazil 2,” would last from May 11 to June 9, but could be extended. This period marks the beginning... [Log in to read more]