JUNGLE BURNING
Amazon rainforest fires – Green groups deliberately started thousands of devastating blazes claims Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro
BRAZIL’S president has accused environmental groups of deliberately starting some of the thousands Amazon rainforest fires.
Jair Bolsonaro, 64, claims conservationists want to make him look bad after they blasted him for encouraging loggers and farmers to clear the jungle for cattle ranching.
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The world's largest forest has been devastated by a record 74,000 fires so far this year - almost double the number last year - and experts say humans are to blame.
But the president told a steel industry congress in Brasilia: “On the question of burning in the Amazon, which in my opinion may have been initiated by NGOs because they lost money, what is the intention? To bring problems to Brazil.”
Bolsonaro also made similar allegations earlier when he suggested green groups had gone out with cameras and started fires deliberately so they could be filmed.
However when challenged if he had any evidence to support his claims he replied there were no written records and it was just his feeling.
Danicley Aguiar, from Greenpeace Brazil, denied the accusations, saying: “Those who destroy the Amazon and let deforestation continue unabated are encouraged by the Bolsonaro government’s actions and policies. Since taking office, the current government has been systematically dismantling Brazil’s environmental policy.”
On the question of burning in the Amazon, which in my opinion may have been initiated by NGOs because they lost money, what is the intention? To bring problems to Brazil
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro
Paulo Moutinho, co-founder of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, said: "It is very difficult to have natural fires in the Amazon; it happens but the majority come from the hand of humans.
Moutinho, who has been working in the Amazon forests for nearly 30 years, said fires are mostly used to clean up vast areas of land for farming or logging.
The fires can easily get out of control, especially now during the Amazon's dry season, and spread to densely forested protected areas.
The Amazon rainforest has suffered a record number of fires this year, according to (INPE).
The agency said its satellite data had detected 74,155 fires since January, an 84 per cent increase over the same period of 2018.
It added that most fires were in the Amazon region.
The head of INPE was sacked by Bolsonaro earlier this month over a row about the figures, with the President saying it tarnished Brazil’s reputation.
Wildfires in the country are thought to often occur in the dry season but conservationists have also pointed to fires started deliberately in efforts to illegally deforest the land so they can be developed economically.
Ricardo Mello, head of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Amazon Programme, said the fires were "a consequence of the increase in deforestation seen in recent figures".
Local reports say there was a sharp spike in deforestation in July which was then followed up by extensive burning in August.
Some farmers are said to have organised “fire days” in a bid to take advantage of weaker legislation by the authorities.
The record number of fires were responsible for causing a daytime blackout in Sao Paulo, the country’s largest city, on Monday.
Thick smoke plunged the city into darkness at around 3pm for around an hour.
BLACKOUT IN SAO PAULO
Strong winds carried thick plumes of smoke more than 1,700 miles to the city which met cold, humid air from the coast, experts said, which triggered the blackout.
Wildfires in the country are thought to often occur in the dry season but conservationists have also pointed to fires started deliberately in efforts to illegally deforest the land for cattle ranching.
Bolsonaro, who came to power on January 1, this year, has repeatedly attacked environmental groups, saying they are obstacles in his quest to develop the country's full economic potential, including in protected areas.
Bolsonaro and Environment Minister Ricardo Salles are both close to the powerful rural caucus in Congress and have been urging more development and economic opportunities in the Amazon region, which they consider overly protected by current legislation.
The government is also facing international pressure to protect the vast rainforest from illegal logging or mining activities.
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The Amazon is often referred to as the lungs of our planet because trees in the giant river basin produce around a fifth of the oxygen we breathe.
The jungle is also a major absorber of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Citing Brazil's apparent lack of commitment to fighting deforestation, Germany and Norway have decided to withhold more than $60 million in funds earmarked for sustainability projects in Brazil.
French and German leaders have also threatened not to ratify a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur countries to pressure Brazil into complying with its environmental pledges within the Paris Climate Agreement.
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