Conservation groups have criticised Brazil for voting to change laws that they say will weaken forest protection, in the midst of international talks on climate change.
Brazil’s senate has voted to approve changes to the "forest code" laws which are backed by the country’s agricultural sector.
But green groups say it will undermine protection for the forest and make it hard for Brazil to meet its pledges to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation, which globally accounts for almost a fifth of the world’s total annual greenhouse gas output.
The move comes during the latest round of UN talks on tackling global warming in Durban, South Africa, with countries facing - among other issues - the question of the “emissions gap” between the cuts countries have pledged and the levels of reductions needed to prevent dangerous climate change.
According to wildlife charity WWF, the changes to the forest law will provide an amnesty for illegal deforestation which occurred before 2008, stop illegally deforested areas being fully restored and allow non-native species to be planted.
WWF says Brazilian government data shows that 79 million hectares of forest in Brazil - an area the size of the UK and France combined - could be left unprotected and 29 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide could be released into the atmosphere or not captured in restored forests as a result of the changes.
WWF international director-general Jim Leape said: “We’re at a time in history when the world seeks leadership in smart, forward-thinking development.
“Brazil was staking a claim to being such a leader. It will be a tragedy for Brazil and for the world if it now turns its back on more than a decade of achievement to return to the dark days of catastrophic deforestation.”
Paulo Adario, Amazon campaign director at Greenpeace Brazil, said: “The approved text is a disaster for the Amazon and all Brazilian forests. The new Forest Code invites the rapid advance of deforestation and it has already caused damage in the Amazon.
“With the promise of amnesty, large-scale forest criminals will go back to their old ways and the Amazon will once again face large-scale destruction.”
The green groups also warned that the change would make it hard for Brazil to meet its targets to reduce emissions by 36-39 per cent by 2020, two-thirds of which cuts would come from reducing deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado regions.
But representatives of agriculture - a huge sector in Brazil’s economy - said the changes put farmers on a safer legal foothold and would continue to require them to preserve significant amounts of forest on their land.
Conservation groups called for Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to veto the change to the law.
Fabio Scarano, executive director for Conservation International in Brazil, said: “The almost certain increase in deforestation will drive increases in the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, and a regression of national policies.
“We fully expect that president Dilma Rousseff honours her campaign commitments to reducing deforestation, and decisively vetoes any legislation landing on her desk that allows amnesty for illegal logging.”