Brazil Records Big Increase in Amazon Forest Fires

The number of fires in the Amazon region showed a dramatic increase in the Amazon region in July compared to July last year, according to official figures from Brazil.

Brazil's National Space Agency revealed that there are 6,803 fires, a 28 percent increase. In July 2019, there were 5,318.

Last month, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) recorded 2,248 fires, compared to 1,880 fires recorded in the same month last year.

Since the reports of increased fire last month, concerns are mounting that this year's fires would exceed the blazes from last year. In August 2019, fires peaked to 30,901, thrice the number recorded in 2018. 

READ: Deadliest Year for Environmental Defenders; 212 Death Toll in 2019  

Alarmed by the numbers 

Erica Berenguer, an Amazon ecologist and a senior research associate at the University of Oxford, said that she was alarmed by the numbers as July is the burning season. "This is an indicator that the rest of the burning season is going to be very intense," she said.

The science director of Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), Ane Alencar, shares the same concern, Ane Alencar.

Last June, Greenpeace reports more than two thousand fires in Amazon, the highest in the past 13 years. 

The burning season lasts typically from June to September every year.

The Amazon spreads on several South American countries, but 60 percent is in Brazil. It is the home of millions of species of flora and fauna and the home of millions of indigenous peoples. 

(Photo: Reuters Connect )
Cattle grazing a field razed by fire that also burned several thousands of hectares in Amazon forest (Reuters Connect)

Cause of Fire Outbreaks 

In 2019, IPAM revealed that 33 percent of the fire outbreaks were from private lands, followed by areas with no specified land use. Alencar said that the fires in 2019 were not triggered by drought, but high deforestation levels as 2019 have not been particularly dry compared to previous years.

This year, illegal loggers and farmers wanting to clear the ground quickly deliberately started the forest fires in the country. 

Agricultural and mining activities are encouraged by Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro as he believes that there should be more "development and economic opportunities" in the Amazon region.

Bolsonaro criticized its environmental agency of the country for imposing excessive fines on his first year of office. A drastic decrease in penalties for environmental violations was imposed. The increasing number of fires corresponded with a sharp drop in penalties for environmental violations, while the environmental agency remains understaffed and underfunded.

READ ALSO: Largest Meat Company JBS Linked to Amazon Farm Conducting Illegal Deforestation 

A Call for More Meaningful Actions

Conservation groups accuse the government of inaction as concerns that another 2019 forest fire situation must not happen again. The pandemic is also worsening the situation as arson incidences are monitored less. Brazil is the second-highest coronavirus death toll in the world next to the US. The increased smoke could damage the breathing of virus patients. 

After the increased numbers of fires last year, Greenpeace cites that many investors, companies, and governments have expressed their concern about the destruction of the Amazon forest. They are sending a message that they refuse to do business with forest destroyers. 

Bolsonaro announced a fire moratorium for 120 days, but Greenpeace called the measure as "performative and inefficient."

Greenpeace said that to protect Amazon and its peoples, the Brazilian government needs to increase environmental agencies' funding, strictly implement the environmental laws, and protect the Indigenous People's rights. 

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