AMAZON’S IN LINE OF FIRE
Climate change danger because of worse blazes
THE Amazon rainforest could be ravaged by even worse blazes this year, accelerating the planet towards irreversible climate change, an expert has warned.
Mauricio Voivodic, head of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Brazil, said fires there are likely to be more devastating than last year if logging continues at the same rate.
Speaking before a meeting with MPs in Westminster, he revealed illegal miners and logging firms are now being granted licences to chop down thousands of ancient trees.
Mr Voivodic said: “Last year’s fires were very much connected to the deforestation rate, to land grabbing and mining... Instead of a plan to tackle deforestation, the [Brazilian] government introduced a bill that gave land titles to land grabbers who cleared forest illegally.
“The government is accelerating the destruction. The Amazon is close to a tipping point.” He said nearly 18% is gone and scientists warn if 20% is lost there may be no chance of stopping global temperatures rising over 1.5C, which could be disastrous.
The WWF estimates at least 25% of the Amazon will be lost by 2030 if the rate of deforestation continues.
Much of it provides land for cattle and crops to feed the animals.
Mr Voivodic hopes Britain will pressure the Brazilian government to halt the damage before it is too late.
Deforestation is rising fast in some areas where indigenous tribes live.
The WWF is equipping some of them with drones to detect deforestation on their land. One group, the Uru-eu-wau-wau in Rondonia state, used a drone to discover a huge patch of forest had been cleared.
Indigenous leader Awapy Uru-euwau-wau said land grabbers want to shut them up. He added: “This year I was threatened with death three times. Now the armed invaders are looking for me near my village.”