UNITED NATIONS (TURKISH JOURNAL) – Nishat Mirza – The lungs of the earth, Amazon is on fire right now. The ‘Fire Day’ took place two weeks ago when farmers who support the current Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, started this fire on protected forest areas.
During his campaign, Bolsonaro promised farmers an Economic Explosion at the Amazon region. Bolsonaro was sworn in January 2019, who promoted deforestation among farmers suggesting that farmers can plan Soy Beans and Rice instead. Many people are directly affected by this fire, especially in the southern states of Amazon, says Brazilian youth advocate Diego Azevedo, who currently lives in Santarem city of Para state in Brazil. A lot of the people are being affected by this fire directly, we do not know exactly how many, because government halts data transfer from the region to the world.
Amazon is home to 3 million species and a million indigenous people. Burning rain forest is critically harmful to our planet. In Addition, President Bolsonary fired Environment Minister Ricardo Salles in early August 2019. Galvão viewed satellite images of deforestation to the world. Bolsonay said it is all ‘a lie’ and disregarded scientific evidence of Amazon’s deforestation. Right now in Brazil, government officials are stopping any data of deforestation as well as people being affected to the world. Bolsonary’s one of the campaign promises was to use Amazon Economically.
Meanwhile, the United Nation’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “I’m deeply concerned by the fires in the Amazon rainforest. In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected.”
The United Nations President of the General Assembly, Maria Espinosa also shared a tweet urging the world to stand up in protecting our forests, “Very concerned about forest fires around the globe, Forests are crucial to tackle Climate Change, to forest biodiversity, conservation & food security. Let’s take care of them in our communities and beyond. Let’s take urgent Climate Action Now.”
