Following a wave of criticism, Brazil's government has issued a new decree on a large nature reserve in the Amazon. The order still strips protections from the area, but says mining won't take place in indigenous areas.
In a statement posted on the government's website on Tuesday, the new order seeks "to clarify Brazil's commitment to protecting the environment."
The latest decree still removes the protected status of the National Reserve of Copper and Associate Minerals (Renca). The reserve stretches between two northern Brazilian states and covers around 18,000 square miles (around 46,600 square kilometers) – an area larger than the Netherlands.
However, the latest order states mining will not be allowed to take place in conservation or indigenous areas located in the former reserve.
"The new text firmly reiterates the position that there can be no mining in protected areas," Environment Minister Jose Sarney Filho said in the statement.
Presidential Chief of Staff Eliseu Padilha said that the new order corrects for the confusion caused by Temer's original order last Wednesday.
"There was a reserve for copper mining that did not involve indigenous or environmental reserves. It has been extended to other minerals without hurting a single square meter of indigenous or environmental reserves," said Padilha.
Fighting illegal logging in the Amazon
The Amazon rainforest absorbs about 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. Agents at the Brazilian environment institute are trying to protect the green lungs of the Earth - but money shortages threaten their work.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Green lungs
Tropical rainforest in the Amazon covers almost twice as much land as India. Three-quarters of it is located in Brazil. These green lungs of the Earth are threatened by illegal logging and mining.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Caught red-handed
Together with the military police, agents of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) hunt for illegal loggers, trying to catch them in action. In this photo, an IBAMA agent is targeting a logging truck.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Direct hit
IBAMA goes head-on against illegal loggers. Whoever is caught feels the iron fist of the authorities - like those above, near the city of Novo Progresso in the state of Pará. The wood was burned on site - together with the trucks.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Dangerous work
The forest protection work carries high risk, as many illegal loggers are armed. In June, a policeman was shot dead.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Hard-won success
In this case, IBAMA agents were successful. But such success is becoming less frequent. The economic crisis has also affected the environmental agency, and its funding has been reduced by about a third over recent years.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Poor equipment
The loss of funding has consequences: "The loggers are better equipped than us," said Uiratan Barroso, representative of the state of Para. "As long as we lack money for unmarked vehicles and acceptable radios, we cannot carry out our work properly."
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Failures showing
From 2004 and 2012, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon decreased by 80 percent. But over the last four years, it has increased by 35 percent. In 2015, a forest area four times larger than Los Angeles was cleared.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Support from Germany and Norway
The Brazilian government admits that IBAMA is poorly equipped to carry out its tasks. The Amazon Fund, aimed at raising donations to combat deforestation, will provide 56 million reais (around 15 million euros) to help improve the situation. The money is coming mainly from Germany and Norway.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
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The government also said the decree will help authorities crack down on illegal mining that was taking place in the reserve while opening the area up to legal mining projects.
Brazil's branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a statement that although the government's decree shows more efforts for protecting the area, the risk of environmental damage from mining projects still remains.
Temer's government faced backlash from environmental groups, artists and even model Gisele Bündchen for the original order last week.
WWF warned in a previous report that mining projects in the area would cause "demographic explosion, deforestation, the destruction of water resources, the loss of biodiversity and the creation of land conflict."
