Deforestation in Amazon has hit the roof in the last couple of years under the government of Jair Bolsanaro who recently was tested positive for COVID-19.
Facing backlash over the brazen environmental destruction, the Jair Bolsanaro government has put forward a four-month ban on fires in the Amazon and Pantanal regions.
The Environment Ministry will draft the decree.
In 2019, the government banned fires for 60 days followed by another 60 days.
The government has been receiving criticism from international investors urging to take strict action against the deteriorating conditions of Amazon forest.
In response to the criticism, they hope to use the moratorium to prove that they are against the destruction of the environment.
On Tuesday, a group of companies such as pulp maker Suzano SA, meatpacker Marfrig Global Foods SA, and agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. expressed that the negative perceptions are damaging the name of their business prospects via a letter which was sent to the authorities.
Environment Minister Ricardo Salles urged Bolsonaro to take advantage of global leaders’ Covid-19 blinders to simplify regulations.
In early June, Amazon Environmental Research Institute, known as Ipam, warned that an area 11 times the size of New York City could be incinerated in the dry season.
National Institute for Space Research data showed that the first month of the dry season, fires in this biome rose to a 13-year high.
In Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland area, the number of fires in June this year is more than double of those recorded last year.
Source: Bloomberg