Brazil has recorded, in less than nine months, more forest fires in the Amazon than in the whole of 2021, according to official figures published on Monday, September 19. Satellites from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) have identified 75,592 homes in the largest rainforest on the planet since January 2022, compared to a total of 75,090 last year.
This month of September is particularly devastating: in just one week, the number of outbreaks detected in the Amazon was already higher than the total for September 2021. The institute had then counted 16,742 fires, a number however much lower than during the same month. 2020 (32,017) or the monthly average recorded between 1998 and 2021 (32,110).
Deforestation up sharply under Bolsonaro’s tenure
“These forest fires are a tragedy announced. During the four years of mandate [du président d’extrême droite Jair Bolsonaro]we have lived through one of the darkest times for our environmentreacted André Freitas, spokesperson for the Brazilian branch of Greenpeace in the Amazon. All those who practice illegal activities have taken advantage of this context to advance in the forest.”
Since Jair Bolsonaro came to power in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade. The president, candidate for re-election in the October ballot, is accused to promote mining and agriculture in the region, to the detriment of the forest. According to some experts, deforestation and forest fires are intensifying this year as Jair Bolsonaro is left behind in the polls by the leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who promises to be more rigorous in the preservation of the environment. ‘Amazon.
