The Amazon’s fight against illegal loggers

Posted by Anita Froneman on 3 July 2020

The Amazon rainforest annually experience fires during the months of July, August and September but this year, Brazil recorder the highest number of fires in the forest for the month of June in 13 years.

Researchers reported a staggering 2,248 fires in the forest for June alone and many of these fires are believed to have been caused by arson.

Illegal loggers and farmers make use of the fact that authorities’ main focus is on the COVID-19 pandemic. With fewer eyes on the forest, these loggers start fires to clear ground, reports BBC. Farmers looking for grazing areas for their cattle set the forest alight to create space.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has been criticised for his outlook on the environment and seeming lack of action against illegal deforestation. Bolsonaro slashed the Ministry of the Environment’s funding last year, and BBC‘s analysis showed how a sharp drop in fines for environmental violations during his administration had coincided with the increase in fires.

Environmental watchdog organisation Amazon Watch actively speaks out against the president. ‘Since coming to office, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has enabled increased razing of the Amazon rainforest,’ it says on its website.

‘Government officials and environmental activists say the rise in deforestation is being driven by a prevailing sense among illegal loggers and miners that tearing down the rainforest carries minimal risk of punishment and yields significant payoff,’ Amazon Watch added.

An estimated 1,201 square kilometres of trees in the Amazon were destroyed from January to April this year, a 55 % increase from the same period last year, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, Amazon Watch reports.

Image credit: Twitter/UkFour






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