In the afternoon of 9th, North Para State in Brazil, South America. White smoke was seen from the other side of the trees from Altamira, a population of about 100,000 people in the eastern part of the world's largest rainforest Amazon, on the way to Bakaja, an indigenous reserve.
When you arrive at the place where the smoke rises, the trees and undergrowth burn down, and a burning smell drifts from the smoldering fallen trees and stumps. It seemed that a “black hole” about 50 meters in diameter opened in the forest. There was a similar “black hole” nearby.
According to locals, someone illegally cut and set fire to turn the burnt marks into farmland and ranch. Amazon has a mix of private and national land, but there are many people who continue to occupy and claim to be their own land.
Amazon spreads in nine South American countries. The area is about 5.5 million square kilometers. There are about 60% in Brazil. Usually from July to early October, there are many forest fires in the dry season, but large-scale forest fires occur frequently this year and continue to this day. According to the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, the burnt area from January to August is more than 43,000 square kilometers in Brazil alone. It is wider than Kyushu and exceeded the last year.
One factor is the Amazon policy of President Borsonaro, who took office in January this year. Protecting the sluggish economy and giving priority to development over environmental protection has resulted in environmental protection groups accusing them of illegal logging and rampant fire. In particular, there are concerns about the impact on global warming, and in August the seven major summits (G7 summit), President Macron of France, the presidency of France, picked up Amazon Fire as a major agenda, totaling $ 20 million (about 2.1 billion) Yen) decided to provide emergency support, but Mr. Borsonaro refused to receive it.
In response to internal and external accusations, Borsonaro issued a 60-day ban on grilling in late August. However, people who have continued field farming with field wares are complicated. Joaquin Silva (54), who has a cacao field in Itamura, a village adjacent to Bakaja, says, “If we don't burn it, we can't live.”
Itata was made up of people who came to mine gold, but it hasn't been able to mine for about 20 years. Many of the residents are now farming by turning the rainforest into a field by burning it. Silva is one of them. “There is no work even if I go to the city, but I have my own field here and I can live.”
According to Altamira-based environmental protection NGO “Thing Vivo Para Senpuri”, the mechanism of Amazon destruction is as follows. ①Developers hire poor people for lumberjacks, illegally cut and sell trees that can be exported as timber ②Fall trees that can not be exported and sell them locally and cheaply ③When the trees run out, people who set fire will appear, and the ruins Turn it into farmland. The NGO member, Analige Barbosa (50), complains that "unless this mechanism is changed, illegal logging and forest fires will not go away."
Anonymity for environmental protection according to interviews…