Brazil issues fire ban, redeploys military to fight Amazon blazes

Similar orders did little in past years to stop deforestation and illegal logging in the critical Amazon rainforest.

As Brazil reels from its worst drought in decades, President Jair Bolsonaro has issued a broad 120-day ban on unauthorised outdoor fires ahead of the annual burning season in the Amazon rainforest. The decree, published in the official government gazette on Tuesday, comes a day after Bolsonaro redeployed the military in an effort to stop deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest. Deforestation has soared under the far-right leader, hitting a 12-year-high in 2020 as an area seven times the size of London was cut down, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Last year the region also recorded the most fires since 2017, the agency said.