Between January 1 and September 9 this year, the Brazilian Amazon recorded 56,425 fire spots, the highest number for the period since 2010, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) of Brazil.
This is a growth of about 6% compared to the same period in 2019, when 53,023 fires were recorded, and when images of flames in what is the largest tropical forest on the planet circulated around the world and generated indignation.
The Brazilian Amazon has not burned as much since 2010, when Inpe, a government agency, registered 72,946 fires in the region.
The agency’s data contradict the current Brazilian executive, led by President Jair Bolsonaro, who has campaigned denying that the Amazon is on fire.
An example of this is a video released this week by the Government, which says that “Brazil is the country that best preserves its native forests in the world”.
“These fires in the Amazon are cultural and of a small proportion”, indicates the video broadcast by the Government, an argument that has been rejected by environmentalists and several observers.
The video, produced by the Association of Breeders of Pará (AcriPará), a group formed by cattle ranchers, was released on Wednesday night in the social network’s Twitter accounts of the Brazilian vice president and head of the National Council of the Legal Amazon. , Hamilton Mourão, and the Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles.
“Which side are you on? Who do you really preserve or who manipulate your feelings? Brazil is the country that most preserves its native forests in the world. That’s the truth. We take care of it! ”Wrote Mourão in the message accompanying the audiovisual material.
“I received this video, the Amazon is not burning,” said Salles, while publishing the same content.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International warned of the “alarming number” of new fires burning in the Brazilian Amazon, accusing the country’s authorities of failing to protect the land and human rights in that rainforest.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) also pointed out that deforestation in the region increased by 34.5% between August 2019 and July 2020 compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019, destroying a total area of 9,205 square kilometers.
Part of the fires in the Amazon region tend to be started intentionally by land grabbers, individuals who illegally take over land and deforest the area to create pastures.
Livestock is the main cause of illegal occupation of land in reserves and indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon, fueling deforestation and affecting the rights of indigenous peoples and native residents.
In total, 63% of the deforested area in the Amazon, from 1988 to 2014, became pasture for cattle, in an area five times larger than Portugal, according to a report published by Amnesty International last year.
The Amazon is the largest tropical forest in the world and has the greatest biodiversity recorded in an area of the planet, with approximately 5.5 million square kilometers, and includes territories of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana (belonging to France).
