dpa
Rio de Janerio
Brazil’s Amazon region is experiencing its worst fires in 12 years, the country’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said on Saturday.
In September, 41,282 fires were registered in the region, according to INPE.
The last time there were more fires in a month was September 2012.
Wildfire season in Brazil runs from June to October.
In most cases, trees are felled first and then the cleared areas are set on fire to create new pastures and farmland for soybean cultivation.
Because the rainforest in the Amazon region can hold immense amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, it is also of great importance for the global climate.
Environmental protection is among the issues in the country’s presidential election
on Sunday.
Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has primarily concentrated on the Amazon region’s economic potential and wants to open up more land for agriculture and mining.
His rival, left-wing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on the other hand, has promised to strengthen environmental and climate protection in the future. Lula is clearly ahead in the opinion polls.
