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By Lisandra Paraguassu and Jake Spring
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rose in July, breaking a 15-month streak of falling destruction under President Luiz Inacio da Silva, preliminary government data showed on Wednesday, amid a strike by environmental workers.
Roughly 666 sq km (257 sq miles) of jungle were cleared in July, 33% higher than the 500 square km for the same month last year, according to preliminary data announced by the Environment Ministry and Science Ministry.
Despite the increase, Amazon deforestation levels are still far lower under Lula than his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Joao Capobianco, Brazil's vice minister for environment, said that a drought in the Amazon, the environmental workers' strike and the fact that it is a municipal election year which tends to correlate with increased destruction.
Apart from July, he emphasized that deforestation has otherwise been falling.
Amazon deforestation in July 2022, the last year under Bolsonaro, was more than double that of July 2024, according to data from government space research agency Inpe.
In the first seven months of the year, Amazon deforestation totaled 2,310 square km, a decline of 27% compared to a year earlier. Amazon deforestation last increased in February and March 2023, shortly after Lula took office.
The rise is in part due to an environmental workers' strike that began in June, that has drastically curtailed the enforcement of laws against deforestation, said Wallace Lopes, a leader with environmental workers union Ascema.
"The strike has definitely impacted the increase in the (deforestation) data," said Lopes.
The strike to demand better wages and working conditions involves both the main federal environmental enforcement agency Ibama and parks service Icmbio.
Lula's office did not respond to questions about the strike's impact on deforestation.
Lula took office in January 2023 on a pledge to end deforestation by 2030 after soaring levels of destruction under Bolsonaro. That commitment is the centerpiece of his bid to restore Brazil's climate credentials, as the Amazon absorbs vast amounts of greenhouse gas.
The strikes' effects are apparent in the lower number of fines issued by Ibama for deforestation and other crimes in the period, Lopes said. The strike began at the end of June but was preceded by a work slowdown, that started in January.
Ibama data shows the number of environmental fines fell by 63% for the year to Aug. 6, compared to the same period last year. The agency did not respond to request for comment.
The data comes as Brazil's Amazon rainforest has struggled with numerous fires, amid a drought in the region fanned by climate change. The fire season typically peaks in August and September.
Firefighting efforts were not being affected by the environment workers' strike.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Jake Spring in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Andre Romani and Stefanie Eschenbacher in Sao Paulo; Editing by Ana Nicolaci and Sandra Maler)
