A protest in the rhythm of carnival brought the forests closer to the city and gathered thousands of people in the famous Copacabana beach on the morning of Sunday 19th of June to dance and sing for a greener Brazil.

Following the recent approval of a new Forest Code in Brazil, musicians took to the streets.The idea came from a group of musicians, used to bringing together crowds during Carnival in the traditional streets parades of Rio de Janeiro. They wrote a manifesto asking the Congress and the president to not accept destructive changes in the forest legislation. This was the first united and political movement in the history of Brazil’s street carnival bands.

On May 24th, the Brazilian House of Deputies approved a new project of forest law that might replace the existing one,  increasing the area available for “legal” deforestation across the country and giving general amnesty to all historical illegal deforestation. This approval could have extensive impacts on the country’s commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through an 80% cut in deforestation by 2020.

Greenpeace was present at the musical protest in the shape of a very creative group of trees, giving out little green banners with the saying “Dilma, stop the chainsaw” to people. Soon,  the banners covered the whole scenario.

The majority of the Brazilian population is against the Forest Code  forced by the agribusiness lobby in the Congress. Now they want to be heard. In a public survey released recently by the Datafolha Institute, 79% of the participants said they were against the new forest law.