Brazil President says Amazon forests its ‘sovereign territory’

Speaking at UN climate summit yesterday Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that the Brazilian areas of the Amazon rainforest are its sovereign territory. Almost half of the Amazon rain forests fall in Brazil’s territory

He took an aggressive stand in the summit and insisted that it is a “misconception” that its forests were the lungs of the world. Mr. Bolsonaro’s extremist far-right policies are blamed to have led to an increase in wildfires this year, Environment activists say he has encouraged cattle farmers and loggers to clear large areas of the rainforest since his election last October.

President Bolsonaro on many occasions had openly aired his view of exploiting Amazon is profitable. Around 800000 indigenous people live in 450 indigenous demarcated territories within the rain forests. This amounts to 12 percent of the total land area of Brazil. The area is said to be rich in coal and natural resources.