For the past three weeks, the Amazon rainforest has been burning and according to Reuters, at a record rate. It’s actually the highest on record since 2013 with an 83 per cent increase from last year.
Brazil declared a state of emergency over the rising number of fires in the region earlier in August with almost 73,000 fires in the country detected by the country’s space research center, INPE. But what caused the fire? Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has said publicly that he thinks the fires were set by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in retaliation to funding cuts. According to BBC, he didn’t provide any evidence for his claims and then later said he never accused any groups.
While celebrities and social media influencers are rallying to raise awareness about the situation, lawyer Gabriel Santos who lives in Rio Branco, in the heart of the Amazon, has taken a different approach. He has launched a Change.org page to petition the Brazilian government to mobilise and help put an end to the burning of the Amazon rainforest. He is asking the authorities to set up an inquiry to investigate what is leading to the increase in fires in this region and hold the culprits accountable.
He said: “Last Monday afternoon, the population of São Paulo was surprised to see the city going dark at 3pm from the heavy smoke billowing from the fires in the North. And that made us understand one thing – it doesn’t matter if we’re northerners or southerners. It doesn’t matter whether you are living on the banks of the river or an executive working in the city. The dismantling of environmental policies will affect all of us.” His aim is to get 4,500,000 signatures. So far he has collected 4,186,810.
Sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-burning-of-the-amazon-rainforest
