Brazilian Amazon again under threat from forest fires

Fires in the Brazilian Amazon have surged so far in August, government data on Friday showed, outstripping the same period of 2019 and renewing concerns about the destruction of the world's largest rainforest, which is a critical bulwark against climate change.

Brazilian space research agency INPE recorded 5,860 fires in the Amazon in the first six days of August, a 7% increase from the same period of last year.

Smoke rises from a burnt area of land a the Xingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, in the Amazon basin.

The data set is small and daily variation can be considerable, but the trend suggests this month may be on par with a year ago - the worst August in nine years

Some of the areas burned last year were now being used for cattle raising. Fire is commonly used across the Amazon to clear land for pasture.

Environmental advocates blame right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro's vision of economic development in the Amazon for emboldening illegal loggers, miners and land speculators to destroy the forest.

Bolsonaro says more mining and farming are needed in the region to lift people out of poverty. | A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil.

Following global pressure from foreign governments and investors, Bolsonaro has deployed the military to combat deforestation and fires. | A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil.

In July, deforestation in Brazil's Amazon fell from a year earlier for the first time in 15 months. | A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil.

Criminals often extract valuable wood from protected parts of the jungle before setting fire to the land, increasing its value for farming and ranching. Natural fires are very rare in a healthy rainforest. | A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil.

Deforestation hit an 11-year high in 2019 and climbed a further 25% in the first half of 2020. | A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil.

A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil

A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil.

A man walks in a dirty road as wildfires consume an area near Labrea, Amazonas state, Brazil.

A tract of the Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Apui, Amazonas State, Brazil.