By Leonardo Benassatto
PORTO VELHO, Brazil (Reuters) – Environmentalists warn that the Brazilian Amazon could be in for a bad burning season despite a drop in deforestation this year, as years of accumulated destruction and the arrival of El Nino could turn swathes of the jungle into a tinderbox.
Flying near the city of Porto Velho this week to monitor the world’s largest rainforest, a Greenpeace team spotted several fires in the area during its hottest period of the year, which runs from July to September.
“We are now in the middle of the Amazonian summer, when we usually see an increase in fires,” said Greenpeace Brasil spokesman Romulo Batista, looking out over the forest from an airplane traveling over Amazonas state.
The height of the annual burning season usually falls in August and September, when fires tend to spike as rains subside, allowing ranchers and farmers to set fire to deforested areas.
In 2023, environmentalists and experts are on heightened alert, as the fire conditions may be aggravated by the El Nino weather pattern, which is expected to strengthen in October.
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon dropped 43% in the first seven months of the year, according to preliminary government data, boosting President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s credibility as a regional voice for conservation.
But environmentalists say his government cannot let its guard down.
“It’s important (to keep control) because in the last four years large areas were deforested,” Batista said. “So there is a lot of organic material in the soil that can dry out and favor fires.”
Lula took office in January promising to end deforestation by 2030 after destruction surged under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who slashed environmental protection efforts during his 2019-2022 presidency.
Lula is set to gather next week with leaders of Amazonian countries for a summit in northern Brazil to discuss ways to protect the rainforest.
(Reporting by Leonardo Benassatto; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Brad Haynes and Jonathan Oatis)
