Fire ravages the Amazon again, burning the planet’s biggest rainforest on a terrifying scale even before the region’s dry season kicks in.
It means that 1,900 sq miles - more than half a million football pitches - of rainforest have already been reduced to ash so far this year alone, even before the dry season starts this month.
As firefighters hold back the blaze, a baby armadillo scrambles towards them, its parents having perished.
But it is too late to save many of the jungle’s other creatures. The charred bodies of several huge pythons lie nearby, one with its mouth wide open.
Most fires are set by farmers and cattle ranchers to clear land for pasture, or by illegal loggers and miners to drive indigenous people from protected territories.
They are bolstered by Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who has long pledged to open up the Amazon, including its indigenous reserves, to mining, agriculture and oil and gas exploration.
Deforestation increased by 25% in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, figures show.
But the number of firefighters has been drastically cut. One of the worst-affected areas is the northwestern state of Rondonia, where the Porto Velho municipal brigade has been fighting forest fires since 2015.
Last year the brigade was disbanded and the group of 20 men lost their jobs.
Rather than allow the fires to blaze out of control, the men have continued to fight them even without getting paid.
Leader Marcus Silva said: “We decided to carry on as volunteers for the love of our profession, our community and for the plants and animals which are suffering. Last year was bad, but this year the fires have started earlier. The work is difficult, there are ranchers, loggers and people with power who don’t like us putting out their fires.
“There aren’t nearly enough firefighters to respond to all the fires, and now they’ve decided to stop funding our brigade too.
“There is an emergency line that people can call when they see a fire, but no one answers. Those in power don’t care that the rainforest is being burned to the ground.
“My fear is that my children and grandchildren may never see the rainforest, the plants and animals I grew up with.”
The Amazon, 60% in Brazil, is a vital carbon store that slows global warming and home to three million species of plants and animals.
But vast swathes have now been reduced to wasteland – 24,000 square miles in the past decade alone.
Scientists say it could be close to the “tipping point” when its nature completely changes.
After the global condemnation following last year’s fires, Brazil’s finance minister Paulo Guedes insisted this month that the country “preserves our forests, and treats our indigenous peoples better than other countries”. However, in a leaked video of a cabinet meeting, environment minister Ricardo Salles – a climate change sceptic – suggested the government use the pandemic as a smokescreen to dismantle environment protections for the rainforest.
Bolsonaro later modified 195 environmental laws, including one that facilitates the expulsion of indigenous people from their lands, and another removing the obligation to recover illegally deforested areas. Another, giving amnesty to those found guilty of deforestation, has been contested by federal prosecutors.
The head of the government satellite monitoring agency Inpe was this month sacked after releasing new data on deforestation, warning it has reached record new levels.
His predecessor was fired last year on Bolsonaro’s orders after revealing the extent of blazes that led to the global backlash.
Marcus fears smoke from the fires will increase coronavirus deaths in a country with the world’s second-highest toll, topping 90,000. He said: “It could be deadly for so many.”
There are now just two firefighting teams in Rondonia, covering 142,000 square miles of rainforest – an area larger than England. Marcus’s group is battling at least eight fires a day, but with 3,519 forest fires detected in June alone, it is only a fraction of the total.
One of the recent blazes near Brazil’s border with Bolivia took three days to get under control. Marcus said: “It was started deliberately for sure. It’s so sad to see the dead animals who couldn’t escape – lizards, snakes, armadillos, monkeys.”
None of the men have breathing apparatus, using balaclavas and ski goggles for protection. They fight the fires using water backpacks or just branches to smother the flames.
Marcus says: “Now the government have stopped the money, we don’t have enough equipment. We do our best but it’s not enough. I feel we’re fighting a losing battle.”
