A year after the Brazilian Government dismissed studies warning that parts of the Amazon rain forest were becoming so dry they could burn uncontrollably, fires have become a greater threat than ever to intact rain forest and to indigenous people, according to environment groups that monitor the Amazon.
The fires are set to clear land for grazing and planting, but are burning out of control at an alarming rate, environment groups say, due in large part to the drying effect of El Nino. The number of fires has more than doubled since last year, according to the Government's own figures. Last year, 7800 square miles (20,200 square kilometres) of rain forest caught fire, the Woods Hole Institute, in Massachusetts, said.
Until rains doused flames in Mate Grosso this month, fire appeared set to engulf the Xingu National Park, home to 5000 indigenous people belonging to 17 tribes. In March, fires burned 2379 square miles (6161 square kilometres) of rain forest In Roraima including parts of the Yanomami Indian reserve, near the border with Venezuela. In addition, 10 per cent of virgin rain forest, covering an area the size of California, is at risk of fire this year, according to the Environ mental Research Institute on the Amazon, an independent group.
After the fires in Roraima, Government officials reversed their position, acknowledging that fires had indeed become a real threat. They created special teams to monitor burnings and fight fires, but environment groups contend that the effort was too little too late. On Thursday, the World Bank announced a $15 million emergency project to fight the fires. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has come under blistering criticism from environmentalists for putting off enforcement of Brazil's first Environmental Crimes Law, which was seven years in the making. Steve Schwartzman, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defence Fund, called the order delaying enforcement "a betrayal of everything the Government negotiated for".
In July, the Government announced a $30-million plan to monitor burnings and create firefighting teams to control the fires during the burning season. But it has freed up only a small share of the money, said Joao Paulo Capobianco, the executive secretary of the Socio-Environmental Institute. Eduardo Martins, the head of the Government's environmental protection agency, rejected the criticism, accusing the environmentalists of "climatic opportunism." He added: "More than 1000 people working on the problem doesn't signify doing nothing." But, he added in a telephone interview: "If you ask me if the prevention for this burning season was adequate, I'd say no," and he acknowledged that with the time available after the fires in Roraima, "the preparation was not ideal".
The Amazon rain forest is home to the world's largest array of animal and plant species, as well as troves of bacteria and fungi whose medicinal and nutritional value have yet to be studied. Naturalists had counted the new environmental law, which went into effect on 1 April, to be Brazil's most significant tool for protecting the environment. For the first time, it gave a federal agency the authority to enforce environmental protection statutes, and forced companies to clean up pollution they had caused.
But last month, President Cardoso signed an executive order granting
industry a 10-year protection from fines and criminal sentences for polluting
if they pledge to fix the problem. On Wednesday, the President modified
the law once again, reducing the moratorium to a maximum of six years.
Mr Martins, the environmental protection chief, said he did not see the
moratorium as a step backward.
NEW YORK TIMES