BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

wasequivalenttosmoking 600 cigarettesa

day.Tragically,a numberoffirefightershave

succumbedtosmokeinhalationanddied.

Arapiumreflectsthat“Formany

indigenouspeoples,attacksonnatureand

onforestsareattacksontheirlives.Today,

mostofthefiresarecriminal

fires,toburnourforest,to

burnourprincipalmeans

ofliving,toburnour

territories,toburn

MotherEarth,toput

anendtoMother

Earth,toputan

endtonature.”

Overtheborder

inBolivia,colossal

crowds– including

indigenouspeople

whotravelledthereon

foot– gatheredinSanta

Cruztodemandthat

PresidentEvoMoralesend

‘controlledburning’and

declarethesituation

a nationalemergency.

Worldoutcr y

Oncetheinternational

mediagotholdofthetravestyhappening

intheAmazon,someofthecountriesthat

hadprovidedfundingforconservingthe

rainforestdeclaredthattheywouldhalt

donations.Others,likeFrance,offered

additionalfundstohelpextinguishthefires.

Bolsonarodeclinedtheirhelp,sayingthat

hethoughtthemoneywouldbebetterspent

protectingtheirownforests.Reissuggests

thatBolsonaro’srefusalofhelpwasa

politicalmove“tojustifyanti-colonialist

theburns,suggestingit wasbecause

thesecharitieswantedtoshinea negative

lightontoBrazil’sgovernment.Many

others,though,believethatthefireswere

orchestratedbythosewhowanttocutdown

therainforesttomakewayforextractive

industrieslikeagribusinesses.

Thefiresnotonlyaffected

wildlifeintheareabut

theindigenouspeoples

wholivethere.Native

communitieshave

complainedthatthe

firesareimpacting

theirhealth,

includingsmoke

affectingtheeyesof

theirchildren.Atthe

heightofthefires,

breathingintheair

Howdoresaect

theanimalsliving

intheAmazon?

Fast-movingspeciessuchasbirds

andlargemammalscanescapefires,

butslower-movingspecieslikesome

amphibiansandinsectsmayperish.

Evenoncethefirehasgoneout,the

remaininganimalscansuerastheir

homesandfoodsourceshavebeen

destroyed.Scientistsfromwildcat

conservationcharityPantheraestimate

thatatleast 500 jaguarshavediedor

beenlefthomelessbyfiresinBraziland

Boliviain2019,a numberthat’slikely

torise.Wildanimalsthataremovedout

oftheirnaturalhabitatmayencounter

humansmorefrequentlyandbekilled

formeatorillegalwildlifetrade.

March: Bruna Prado/AP/Shutterstock; fire: Avener Prado/Guardian/eyevine; jaguar:

M

ke

Lane/A

amy;

Bo

sonaro:

Evar

sto

SA/Getty

Jaguarshavebeenhit

hardbythefires,withover

2 millionhectaresofforest

habitatsofardestroyedin

Bolivia,oneofthespecies’

keystrongholds.

FACT FILE

CARBON

IMPACT

Q Chopping down

and burning one

hectare of rainforest

releases the same

amount of carbon

as circumnavigating

the globe in a car

61 times.

Q Burnt rainforests

lose around 45% of

their carbon stock.

December 2019 BBC Wildlife 35

NEWS FEATURE