Forestry bill threatens the Amazon’s water cycle | Science

In May 2024, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed into law Bill No. 14.876, which removes silviculture from the list of potentially polluting activities, exempting it from the environmental license requirement that applies to most agricultural activities in Brazil (1) and amending the National Environmental Policy (Law No. 6,938/81) (2). The bill also exempts forestry from tax payments by waiving the Environmental Control and Monitoring Fee, encouraging the expansion of this cultivation in the Amazon (1, 2). Bill No. 14.876 should be revoked to prevent further disruptions to the Amazon ecosystem (3–7).