Amazon 'condemned to destruction' as fires proliferate across Brazil
The vast rainforest is experiencing a repeat of last years devastating blazes and critics say Bolsonaro bears ultimate responsibility
by Lucas Landau in Novo Progresso and Tom Phillips
Wed 2 Sep 2020 05.15 EDT
Jair Bolsonaro smiles down from a propaganda billboard at the entrance to this scruffy Amazon outpost, welcoming travelers to his route to development.
But 20 months into Bolsonaros presidency and a year after a devastating outbreak of Amazon fires caused global outrage the fires are back, and many fear Brazils leader is instead steering his country towards environmental ruin.
During a two-hour monitoring flight through the skies around Novo Progresso the Guardian saw giant columns of white and grey smoke rising from supposedly protected forests below.
Elsewhere, illegal goldmines could be seen within the Baú indigenous territory a chaotic tapestry of muddy pools and makeshift encampments where pristine forest once stood. Newly deforested areas of fallen and charred trees were visible within the Iriri forest reserve.
The Amazon is condemned to destruction, despaired one former top official at Brazils enfeebled environmental agency, Ibama, accusing the far-right populist of overseeing a wholesale demolition of protection efforts.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/02/amazon-fires-brazil-rainforest-bolsonaro-destruction