RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro amended the decree that barred burning in the country for 60 days.
Now, it is free to use the practice by farmers outside the region known as the Legal Amazon, which comprises the states of the North (Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins), and part of Maranhão and Mato Grosso.
Bolsonaro’s original decree that prohibited burning for 60 days had been published on Wednesday, August 28th. The change was made on Friday, August 30th.
The new version that was published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the Union, includes a point that releases the use of fire for “agricultural practices outside the Legal Amazon when essential to carry out the harvest operation, provided it was previously authorized by the state environmental agency”.
The authorization will also cease to be granted if the air quality reaches levels harmful to human health or smoke levels originated from fires reach minimum visibility limits that compromise aeronautical and highway operations.
The authorization will also be suspended or canceled if there is a risk to life or the environment, a risk to public safety or a failure to comply with the rules in force.