"As the Amazon rainforest’s human-inflicted fire season advances — now counting nearly 700 major fires and half a million hectares burned over the last three months — the risk to Indigenous territories is growing: 86% of major fires detected in Indigenous Territories this year happened in the last two weeks, according to satellite data analyzed by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
“Everyone is frightened and worried. Last year, the whole world watched as wildfires consumed the Amazon. This year, it’s looking even worse,” Sonia Guajajara, leader of the Brazil-based Association of Indigenous Peoples (APIB), told Mongabay.
Fifteen of the Brazilian Amazon’s 674 major fires detected this year between May 28 and September 2, have burned inside Indigenous territories, according to MAAP data, which counts major blazes and filters out smaller fires that may not have big consequences for the forest."
Shanna Hanbury reports for Mongabay September 2, 2020.
