Reasons for Amazon fires are complex - and so are solutions

By now, anyone with access to a television or computer has heard of the catastrophe facing the Amazon rainforest in the form of blazing fires consuming forested land and the creatures that inhabit it. As of press time, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) had reported at least 74,000 fires in the Amazon this year — an increase of 84 percent since this time last year.

Statistically, the Amazon rarely burns on its own — its foliage is typically too wet to ignite, so fires are often found to be caused by humans. Some of those may be illegal loggers hiding criminal activity or farmers trying to clear land whose controlled burns got out of hand, but given that rainforest fires had been steadily on the decline before Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took office in November 2018, much more sinister accusations have begun to fly.

The pan-Amazon organization Coica has accused both Boslonaro and Bolivian president Evo Morales of environmental genocide, while environmental justice groups and indigenous activists have gone so far as to call the flames a form of genocide against indigenous peoples, who they say are now threatened with extinction.

Bolsonaro, who has remained a strong proponent of agribusiness, informed international nonprofit groups such as the World Wildlife Fund that their agendas were not welcome in Brazil and has come out strongly against lands reserved for indigenous tribes. According to the INPE, rainforest destruction increased by 88 percent in June during Bolsonaro’s first year as president, though Bolsonaro disputes that data.

At a recent G7 summit, some of the world’s wealthiest countries offered a combined $22 million to assist in firefighting measures. (Bolsonaro initially rejected their offer, though as of press time he claimed he would entertain it if other world leaders capitulated to his demands and withdrew what he saw as “insults.”)

While using the Amazon’s imminent demise as a political pawn is undoubtedly despicable, whether or not help will be accepted is irrelevant if help is not offered. And the help offered by other countries, by billionaires and celebrities and by everyday citizens is paltry in comparison to that offered in the face of other high-profile disasters.

Much comparison has been drawn between the 2019 Brazil fires and the fire that consumed Notre Dame in Paris in April, for which billions were raised overnight. The amount raised for the destruction of the Amazon has been decidedly less, despite arguably higher stakes. Now, fundraisers for the Amazon fires are finally ramping up thanks to celebrity endorsements and online crowdfunding. But I don’t think throwing money at the problem is enough.

The hope that an influx of cash alone will solve this burgeoning environmental crisis can only be sustained by willfully ignoring its causes. The Amazonian fires and other disasters like them are the cumulative fault of enormous agribusiness corporations whose policies encourage the displacement and disenfranchisement of indigenous people, combined with acquiescent international governments who not only allow such businesses to run amuck on a global scale but encourage their expansion in their own countries.

Crowdfunding allows everyday people to feel like they have a say in repairing systemic issues, but in reality the practice is much like ceasing to use plastic straws while energy companies pour poison into the air and waters — a band-aid on a gaping wound caused by massive corporations aided by governmental institutions and supported by a legal system that too often places profits above people.

What’s clear is that passivity on the part of the general population is not an option. Donating to relevant non-profits is a great first step — but it is just a step. The only route to achieving stronger environmental protections is combining charitable contributions with other methods, like contacting elected officials to hold them accountable for their votes, signing petitions that can be used to pressure international governments and organizations into environmental compliance and voting for those with a proven track record of valuing the environment and enforcing policies that protect it.

Because without a fundamental change in how we see environmental disasters and how willing we are to accept them, the Amazon’s rainforest fires are just the beginning.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].