Brazil

Silhouette of cannabis leaf

Brazil’s Supreme Court decriminalizes possession of marijuana for personal use

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The Supreme Court’s ruling has long been sought by activists and legal scholars in a country where the prison population has become the third largest in the world. Critics of current legislation say users caught with even small amounts of drugs are regularly convicted on trafficking charges and locked up in overcrowded jails, where they are forced to join prison gangs.

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Young saplings

Microsoft signs another reforestation-based carbon removal megadeal

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Microsoft and nature-based climate solutions startup re.green have announced one of the largest-ever carbon removal agreements, with Microsoft purchasing 3 million tons of carbon removal credits over a 15-year period, generated through re.green’s reforestation projects in Brazil. The deal marks the second large-scale Brazil reforestation-focused carbon removal agreement for Microsoft, following a 1.5 million ton offtake deal with Brazil-based Mombak in December 2023, forming part of the tech giant’s initiative to become carbon negative by 2030.

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Howler monkey

Brazil takes pioneering action to rewild howler monkeys

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Brown howler monkeys, endemic to the Atlantic Forest in Brazil and Argentina, became one of the 25 most threatened primate species following a yellow fever outbreak in late 2016.
In response, Brazilian government agencies and other conservation organizations launched a nationwide population management plan, the first of its kind in the country, focused on coordinating captive facilities with experts who could relocate animals to areas where populations have vanished or declined.

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Rainforest scene

Brazil’s President Lula creates two new Indigenous territories, bringing total to 10

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The Cacique Fontoura reserve will be in Mato Grosso state and the Aldeia Velha territory will be in Bahia state. They will cover a combined total area of almost 132 square miles. Speaking at a ceremony in Brasilia, Lula said Indigenous peoples should be patient as he seeks to fulfill his pledge of creating 14 new territories. Last year, he demarcated six territories in April and two more in September.

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Aerial view of river and mangroves

Brazil boosts protection of Amazon mangroves with new reserves in Pará state

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Brazil’s Pará state has now protected almost all of its Amazonian coastline after establishing two new conservation units that make up the world’s largest and most conserved belt of mangroves. The environmental victory came after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the decree for the two reserves on March 21, placing an additional 184,600 acres of mangrove ecosystems under federal protection.

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River dolphin

11 countries sign global pact to protect endangered river dolphins

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Since the 1980s, the combined populations of river dolphin species have plummeted by 73%. With the Global Declaration for River Dolphins, 14 countries are expected to join forces to protect six surviving species. So far, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and Venezuela have signed the declaration.

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Amazon River Rainforest

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell by nearly 50% in 2023 compared to 2022

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President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged to end deforestation by 2030 when he took office a year ago.
Preliminary data from national space agency Inpe showed 5,153 sq km of the Amazon were cleared in 2023, down from 10,278 sq km in 2022. Rainforest destruction had surged to a 12-year high under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

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Rainforest scene

Brazil launches $204 million drive to restore Amazon rainforest

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Brazil’s national development bank BNDES has launched the Arc of Restoration program to restore degraded or destroyed woodland amounting to 23,160 square miles – an area nearly the size of Latvia – in the Amazon rainforest by 2030. It also seeks to capture 1.65 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere by 2030.

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Lines of cocaine

Scientists in Brazil are developing the first vaccine that could help break cocaine addiction

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Dubbed “Calixcoca,” the treatment, developed by researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, triggers an immune response that blocks cocaine and crack from reaching the brain. Last week, the project won the top prize of €500,000 at the Euro Health Innovation Awards for Latin American medicine.

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