A new change to the law about forests and nature in Peru is making environmental groups and Indigenous groups very angry. They say it could make trees disappear faster in the Amazon rainforest, even though it says it is for making money.

The new rule means that people who own land or companies do not need to ask the government before changing forest land to other uses. Some people are afraid this change could make it seem acceptable to cut down trees illegally.

For us, this is a big worry, said Alvaro Masquez Salvador. He is a lawyer who helps Indigenous people in Peru.

Masquez said the change is bad because it gives private companies control of land that the country's constitution says belongs to everyone. He said, "Forests are not private property - they belong to the country."

People who support the change, which started in March, say it will help farming in Peru and give farmers more safety with the law.

The Associated Press asked people from farming businesses in Peru and Congresswoman Maria Zeta Chunga about the law. Congresswoman Chunga likes the law a lot. Only one person from the farming businesses answered. They said they did not want to talk about it.

Peru has the second-biggest part of the Amazon rainforest after Brazil. This area is very large, more than 70 million hectares, which is about 60% of Peru. This place has many different kinds of plants and animals. More than 50 groups of Indigenous people live there, and some choose to live alone. These groups are important because they protect nature. The forests help the world's weather by taking in a lot of carbon dioxide. This gas makes the climate change.

In 2011, a law was made about forests and animals. It said people needed the government's OK and studies before they could change forest land. But recently, new changes have made these rules less strong. The newest change lets landowners and companies not get the OK. It even makes cutting down trees in the past legal.

Peru's main court said yes to the new law after some lawyers said it was not right. The court changed some parts of the law, but it kept the last part. This part says that changes to land use made in the past, even if they were not legal, are now okay. People who know about law say this is the most serious part.

The court made a decision. It said that local groups should have been asked about changes to the law. It also agreed that the Environment Ministry is important for deciding where forests can be.

Environmental lawyer César Ipenza said, "The court agrees the law was bad for Indigenous people and they should have been asked, but it still supports the worst part."

This change is like what happened in Brazil when Bolsonaro was president. In Brazil, politicians and businesses worked together to make environmental rules weaker so that farms could grow more. In Brazil, big farming companies were very organized. In Peru, the groups working together are not as organized, but they are still strong.

In Peru, some people who support this are big farming companies and people who take land illegally. People connected to illegal mining and selling drugs also support it. Also, small and medium farmers who are worried about keeping their land have joined this.

Vladimir Pinto from Amazon Watch, a group that helps the environment, said that legal and illegal groups are starting to work together.

Julia Urrunaga, who works for a group that protects the environment, said the government in Peru is not telling the truth. She said they are saying they must change laws because of new rules from Europe. Soon, companies bringing things like soy and meat into Europe will need to show that these things did not come from land where trees were cut down illegally.

She said if products from cutting down trees illegally are allowed to be sold, it will make rules in places like the EU less effective.

Urrunaga said this is a bad sign for world markets and makes it harder to stop cutting down trees by controlling trade.

Olivier Coupleux, who works for the EU in Peru, said that new laws are not connected to the EU's rule about stopping deforestation.

In interviews, Coupleux said the rule wants to stop people buying things that cause forests to be cut down. He said it doesn't need new laws, but just knowing where products like coffee, cocoa, and wood come from and making sure they are made in a good way for the environment.

Because they cannot win in their own country's courts, groups that work for people's rights are planning to go to international courts. They say the court's decision is bad for other countries that want to ignore environmental laws by calling it "reform."

For many Indigenous leaders, the law is a danger to their lands, communities, and how they live.

Julio Cusurichi said the new rule will make people want to take land illegally and make it harder to protect nature in areas that are already in danger.

Our people have always protected our land and the Earth, Cusurichi said.