Amazon forest fires increased by 30% in 2019: Report

As bushfires continue to threaten parts of Australia, new stats show that Amazon fires grew by 30.5 per cent in 2019.

According to the data released by space research agency INPE, the number of fires detected in the Amazon region was 89,178 in 2019 compared with 68,345 fires in 2018.

It also identified the rising number of fires last year in other Brazilian ecosystems such as Pantanal and Cerrado. 

Critics have blamed President Jair Bolsonaro's government for contributing to the deforestation and for emboldening ranchers by calling for the Amazon to be developed.