Almost 90,000 fires have been registered in Brazil this year, but the country is still halting fire-fighting efforts. The reason is the lack of financial means for the fire brigade. The fire brigade was withdrawn by the Brazilian environmental authority Ibama and the head of the national centre for the prevention and control of forest fires. They were in arrears with approximately 2.9 million euros and did not see any early relief. However, the government and the environmental authority disagree.

Stopping forest fire fighting so quickly would not only put the population at risk, but would also leave one of the world’s most important lungs to its fate. In the largest inland areas, such as the Amazon and the Panatal, several fires have been raging since the beginning of the year and are becoming increasingly dangerous. Only last year this number had caused a wave of indignation. The fires have already destroyed 41,090 square kilometres of wetlands in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, according to recent data from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. According to the magazine “Nature”, this is more than twice the area burned in the forest fires in California.

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