The number of wildfires in the Brazilian Amazon this year has already surpassed the number recorded for all of 2021, according to official figures released Monday, sparking a new alert for the world’s largest rainforest.
According to the Brazilian space agency INPE, from January 1 to September 18 this year, satellite monitoring has detected 75,592 fires, already more than the 75,090 detected in all of last year.
The latest grim news from the rainforest is likely to increase the pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro, who is running for re-election next month and faces international criticism for a spate of destruction in the Amazon under his supervision.
Since the far-right agribusiness ally took office in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75 percent compared to the previous decade.
Greenpeace Brazil spokesman Andre Freitas called the latest figures a “predicted tragedy”.
“After four years of a clear and objective anti-environmental policy by the federal government, we see that this government’s term in office – one of the darkest times ever for the Brazilian environment – is coming to an end, land grabbers and other illegal actors see it as the perfect opportunity to enter the country forest,” he said in a statement.
