"Lungs of the Earth" are difficult to breathe Amazon Fire, Japan is also involved

The Amazon rainforest that burns with smoke on the 23rd in Porto Velho, western Brazil = AP

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The world's largest rainforest Amazon, also known as the “Lungs of the Earth”, is experiencing record-breaking forest fires. It was taken up as an agenda at the G7 Summit held in Biarritz, Southwestern France until the 26th, and the international community agreed to support fire fighting and sustainable forest development. A number of social media media posts from actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and other social celebrities have become a global issue. Amazon's fires are not limited to this year, but occur every year, and the damage seems to be getting worse. Experts who know the locals say that there are deep-rooted problems behind them.

Amazon has an area of ​​5.5 million square kilometers, about 15 times the land of Japan, spreads in seven South American countries such as Brazil, Peru and Colombia, and is equivalent to about half of the global rainforest. It is said that it produces 20% of the oxygen on the earth, and is a paradise of living where various animals and plants live.

In fact, in Amazon, fires frequently occur during the dry season from April to early October, and a vast area of ​​forest disappears every year. What attracted particular attention this year was the fact that the fire broke out at a record pace compared to the previous year, and that Brazilian President Borsonaro was reluctant to extinguish the fire as “no funds” It seems to be big.

According to the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the number of forest fires in the Amazon since January this year has exceeded 39,000, an 80% increase over the same period last year. The burned area increased by 80%, and approximately 19,000 km2 was burned out, almost the same as the total area in Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto prefectures.

Indigenous firefighters from the Amazon, working with a Japanese NPO “Tropical Forest Conservation Organization” (RFJ). The woman in the center is Kenko Minami, the representative of RFJ (August 21, 2019, provided by Satomi Shimogo / RFJ)

Fire extinguishing naturally before

What is happening locally. Outside of a Japanese NPO “Tropical Forest Conservation Organization” (RFJ) that has launched a project to foster a fire brigade to prevent forest fires in an indigenous sanctuary in Amazon I talked to Mr. Satomi Shimogo, a consignment staff, over the phone.

Shimogo-san is in the fire of Amazon ...