- NET Web Desk
Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro plans to send troops back to Amazon jungle to fight deforestation and fires, an effort to protect the world’s largest rainforest.
Considered as the “Lungs Of Earth”, it’s destruction has surged since 2020.
President Bolsonaro’s decree, the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) calls for armed forces to go to the states of Pará, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, and Rondônia through the end of August, 2021.
However, reports on the number of troops to be deployed or the cost of the operation is not yet received.
Deforestation in the rainforest has been increasing for several years. But it surged drastically after the 2018 election of Mr Bolsonaro who repeatedly called for development of the region.
This will mark the third time in the redeployment of troops in the Amazon jungle.
Followed by two “Operation Green Brazil” deployments, the most recent that ended in April.
This step was taken after an international outcry that said Brazil was not doing enough to protect the biome.
According to an World Atlas report, around 17-20% of the Amazon rainforest has already been lost due to deforestation in the past 50 years.
According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil’s national research space agency, the number of fires burning in the Amazon increased to 28% in July 2020.
