Yesterday, President Bolsonaro signed a decree banning fires in Brazil for 60 days, except in situations permitted by law enforcement agencies, such as “firefighting practices, and indigenous subsistence farming practices”.

But what does this mean anyway?

There are some "legal" fires for pest / endemic control, to put out other fires and those in a controlled way used by traditional communities. The decree, however, is for denying the release of applications from farmers wanting to graze (which is allowed when respecting the percentage of legal reserve decreed according to the biome).

The government is pressured internally and externally, so it should look like it is acting, but there has never been a serious concern about what is happening in the Amazon. At the same time as the government "bans" new fires, the Minister of Agriculture goes to the press and says no resources are needed for reforestation, as the "forest regenerates itself".

This decree is a distraction to say that they are doing something while actually they’re watching the case with arms crossed. We need to keep charging and insisting on effective change! Next week, I will be in Brasilia, capital of Brazil, holding meetings with several parliamentarians to deliver the signatures and discuss the next steps in favor of the Amazon.

Thank you all again,

Gabriel