The Brazilian government has banned most legal fires for land-clearing for 60 days in an attempt to stop the burning that has devastated parts of the Amazon region.
The official decree prohibiting the fires was published Thursday following international criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the environmental crisis.
The period of the new ban coincides with the dry season, when most fires are usually set.
Brazil’s forest code allows farmers and others to set some fires as long as they have licenses from environmental authorities.
WATCH: Amazon fires continue to burn as Bolsonaro rages against Macron
This year, there was a sharp increase in nationwide fires, raising concerns that people were emboldened to burn more after Bolsonaro said rainforest protections were blocking economic development.
Bolsonaro suggested environmental groups were setting illegal fires to try to destabilize his government.
- U.S. tourist faces 12-year sentence for bringing ammo to Turks and Caicos
- Canada refused to repatriate woman from ISIS camp because she can’t be arrested: internal memo
- Aw, rats: Chicago’s beloved ‘Rat Hole’ removed from sidewalk
- Tabloid publisher tells trial he bought, squashed stories damaging to Trump
Comments