Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell by 33.6% in the first six months of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s term compared with the same period in 2022, the government says. Its suggests the rainforest shrank by 2,649 sq km this January-June, down from 3,988 sq km in those six months last year under President Bolsonaro. …Lula has pledged to end deforestation, or forest clearance, by 2030.  But he faces a huge challenge to achieve this target. …The new satellite data was presented by Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research on Thursday. “We have reached a steady downward trend in deforestation of the Amazon,” Environment Minister Marina Silva told reporters. …Earlier this year, Lula decreed six new indigenous reserves, banning mining and restricting commercial farming there. Indigenous leaders welcomed the move – but stressed that more areas needed protection.