A new change to Peru's law about forests and animals is making environmental and Indigenous groups very angry. They say this change could make people cut down more trees in the Amazon rainforest. They think the government says it is for money reasons, but it will hurt the forest.

This new rule means people don't need to ask the state before changing forests into something else. Some people think this could make cutting down trees illegally seem okay.

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

Masquez said the changes are a bad example because they make land private. Peru's constitution says this land belongs to the country. He said, "Forests are not private property—they belong to the nation."

People who support the new law, which started in March, say it will help farming in Peru and give farmers clearer legal rights.

Reporters asked many people in Peru's farming business and a politician named Maria Zeta Chunga about the law. She really liked the law. But only one person from the farming business answered. They said they didn't want to talk.

Peru has the second biggest part of the Amazon rainforest after Brazil. It has over 70 million hectares, which is about 60% of Peru. This area has many different plants and animals, and more than 50 groups of native people live there. Some of these groups live away from other people. These groups help protect the rainforest. The rainforest helps the Earth's climate because it takes in carbon dioxide, which is a gas that makes the climate change.

A law from 2011 said you needed government permission to change how you use forest land. But new changes have made it easier to cut down trees. The newest change means people and companies don't need this permission anymore, and it even makes past cutting legal.

A court in Peru said a new law was okay, even though some lawyers said it was not right. The court changed some parts of the law, but one part stayed the same. This part says that changes to land use in the past, even if they were against the rules, are now allowed. Some people who know a lot about the law think this is the most dangerous part.

In its decision, the court said that they should have talked to Indigenous people about changes to the law. It also said the Environment Ministry is important for deciding where forests should be.

Environmental lawyer César Ipenza said: "The court agrees the law was bad for the rights of Indigenous people and they should have been asked. But the court still says the worst part is okay."

This change is similar to what happened in Brazil when Jair Bolsonaro was president. In Brazil, politicians and businesses worked together to make environmental rules weaker so that farming could grow. In Brazil, large farming companies were very organized and led this. In Peru, the groups who want this are not as organized, but they are still strong.

In Peru, some people support this. These include people who own large farms, people who take land illegally, and people involved in illegal mining and selling drugs. Also, small and medium farmers who are worried about keeping their land have joined them.

Vladimir Pinto from Amazon Watch said that legal and illegal groups are starting to work together.

Julia Urrunaga, who works for an environmental group in Peru, said the government is not being honest. She said the government says they need to make changes to follow new rules from Europe. These rules will soon ask companies to show that products like soy and meat do not come from land where trees were cut down against the law.

She said that if products from illegal tree cutting become legal and can be sold later, it will make rules like the ones in the EU less effective.

Urrunaga said this is bad for markets everywhere and makes it harder to stop cutting down trees by using trade rules.

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

Coupleux talked to newspapers in Peru. He said the new rule wants to stop people from buying things that make forests disappear. He said they do not need new laws. Companies just need to know where things like coffee, cocoa, and wood come from and check that they are good for nature.

Because they cannot do more in their country's courts, groups want to go to international courts. They think the court's decision is bad because it shows other countries how to avoid environmental laws by calling it 'reform'.

Many Indigenous leaders think this law is bad for their lands, their communities, and how they live.

Julio Cusurichi said the new rule will make it easier to take land and will be bad for the environment in places that are already in danger.

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