BRASÍLIA, Brazil: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday decreed six new Indigenous reserves, including a vast Amazon territory, after a freeze in such expansion under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

Under the decrees, Indigenous people are guaranteed exclusive use of natural resources on these lands, viewed by scientists as a bulwark against Amazon deforestation — a major challenge in the fight against climate change. They also commit the Brazilian state to protecting reserve land from intrusions of timber traffickers or illegal miners — the main contributors to forest destruction.