The Amazon is under attack. But you can do something about it.
Last year, the world watched in horror as large areas of the Amazon rainforest burned. But this year’s fires may be even bigger.
In spite of a declared fire ban and the presence of the army, the number of fire hotspots recorded in August are likely to be even higher than last year.
Why is the Amazon burning?
Fires in the Amazon rainforest are not natural. They are deliberately set by land-grabbers and ranchers to expand the land used for cattle grazing and industrial agriculture production.
Since Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, the problem has gotten much worse. Bolsonaro is pushing for more industrial projects in the Amazon. His government is actively dismantling environment laws, slashing funding for environmental protection agencies and demolishing Indigenous land rights.
This has given free reign for forest destroyers to clear and burn the forest without being held accountable. There has even been a surge in murders of Indigenous forest guardians as land-grabbers move in on Indigenous lands.
What’s at stake?
The Amazon is home to a staggering diversity of plants and animals – around 10 percent of all vertebrate species and many species found nowhere else on Earth. Plants and slow-moving animals are burned up in the fires, while fast-moving animals may escape only to die from habitat loss.
The fires – and Bolsonaro’s genocidal policies – threaten Indigenous Peoples’ very existence. Indigenous communities in the Amazon also face an immediate serious health threat from the forest fire smoke, as many communities are already reeling from high COVID-19 mortality.
And the impacts of the fires ripple far beyond the region itself. Every person on earth depends on the Amazon to help regulate our climate. The rainforest sucks carbon from the air and stores it in billions of trees. It produces a “flying river” of water vapour that distributes rain across South America and impacts weather in other continents.
If deforestation continues, the entire biome will hit an irreversible tipping point. The surviving forest would no longer be able to produce its own rainfall and quickly transform into an arid savannah – killing off species and releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
What can you do?
Ultimately President Bolsonaro and his government must be made to back down from their assault on Indigenous rights and environmental protections, and instead take concrete action to protect the Amazon.
So far the only thing that has influenced Bolsonaro is intense international pressure from companies, investors and governments threatening to cut business ties unless the Amazon is protected.
Fast food companies like KFC, McDonald’s and Burger King sourcing from Brazil cannot stand by as the Amazon is being torched, while they still use beef and soya from the country. These forests are typically cleared to produce meat and crops, which is fuelling the climate emergency.
Tell the CEOs of Burger King, McDonald’s and KFC: Take a stand against President Bolsonaro’s plans. Publicly reject any goods linked to environmental destruction in the Amazon and across Brazil.
Fast food companies must reject such products linked to recent and ongoing Amazon destruction. They should publicly speak out against Bolsonaro’s attacks on forests and Indigenous Peoples rights.
Global brands like The North Face, Vans and Timberland have already stopped sourcing goods from Brazil until they can be sure their products are not linked with Amazon destruction. KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast food giants must also take a stand.
