Under President Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation rates have increased by most measures in Brazil.
But recent statements from Bolsonaro and members of his government have indicated that the policies that lead to this deforestation may be changing. Ana Mano at Reuters reported that Brazil’s Agriculture Minister, Tereza Cristina Dias, announced a plan to pay certain farmers to preserve forest and savannah—to not farm, in other words.
In this new announcement, farmers would be paid to preserve environments in the forest and grasslands beyond what is currently required by the various state laws. Those state laws do have limits on how much undeveloped land farmers are permitted to clear, but this proposal, which Mano reports is being finalized, would incentivize farmers to go beyond those limits and protect more land.