Though widespread attention is just starting to build around the fires destroying the Amazon rainforest, one discovery is sparking conversation about another troubling environmental crisis in Central Africa.
According to MODIS satellite data, the number of Brazil’s Amazonian fires over the past 48 hours is less than the number of crop fires sweeping through Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of Sunday, Al Jazeera reports that Angola reported 6,902 fires, compared to 3,395 in the DRC and 2,127 in Brazil within a two-day period.
The revelation shocked many on Twitter, who asserted that leaders are turning a blind eye to fires in Africa.
There are currently several times more #wildfires in #Angola than the #Amazon, according to @NASA
But they appear to be largely crop fires, which is to be expected as this is the time of year farmers clear land https://t.co/Ehq73J1now
pic.twitter.com/O1hjJDux89— Patrick Galey (@patrickgaley) August 26, 2019
Next to no news reports on the fires in #Angola and the #DRC have surfaced in the west. No hashtag campaigns or mass demonstrations have broken out, and the issue has not been placed on the #G7Biarritz agenda. Why? https://t.co/iRGmK8rqFq
— Stephen G. Rae (@StephenGeoRae) August 25, 2019
Information from NASA does not show if the fires in Angola or DRC are grassland or forest fires; nevertheless, some suggest that the whopping number of blazes in Central Africa is due to farmers' practice of crop fires to clear land for the next harvest season. The “slash and burn” method, which involves cutting and burning down vegetation to clear land for cultivation, is lamented by environmentalists who warn that it could offset deforestation, limited biodiversity and soil erosion.
In June 2018, more than 67,000 fires were reported in Angola during a one-week period.
