The Amazon is a national treasure for Brazilians for its rich biodiversity and fame as the lungs of the planet for turning greenhouse gases into oxygen.

With fires still raging in the world’s largest tropical rainforest, almost 60 per cent of which falls within their country’s borders, Brazilians in Toronto are concerned about its future, whether they are fans or foes of their controversial president Jair Bolsonaro, who came to power in January and is often compared to his populist American counterpart, Donald Trump.

The community recently formed the group United for the Amazon and members have held spontaneous rallies since August, including one planned for Nathan Phillips Square Saturday afternoon. Their aim is to reach out to Canadians about the impact of the fires on global warming, hoping Ottawa can impose economic sanctions and ban Canadian mining activities in Brazil in order to save the Amazon under Bolsonaro’s regime.

“The Amazon is very close to our hearts. It’s our national treasure, our national pride,” said Hewton Tavares, who is originally from Salvador and came here from Brazil in 2001. “Bolsonaro has done nothing meaningful to protect the Amazon. We need to take a stand.”

According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, as of late August, the agency recorded 42,719 fires in Brazil’s portion of the rainforest this year, a 128 per cent increase over the first nine months of 2018.

While wildfires happen every year in Brazil during the dry season between July and November, conservationists blame the surge on the president’s pro-business policies they say favour the growing deforestation for agriculture, cattle-ranching and mining industries.

Bolsonaro has refused $26.5 million in aid from the G7 countries — and a $15 million pledge from Canada — amid international criticism over his commitment to protecting the Amazon.

This week, he urged Brazilians to wear the country’s colours, yellow and green, to celebrate Independence Day on Saturday to show the world “the Amazon is ours.” However, those who attend the Toronto rally on Saturday plan to wear black instead.

“The president has banned land-clearing fires in Amazon for 60 days and since then more than 4,000 (new) fires have been seen in the forest. What does this ban even mean?” asked Hellen Rodrigues, one of the organizers of Saturday’s Toronto rally by United for the Amazon.

The Brazilian embassy in Ottawa did not respond to the Star’s request for comment, but maintains on its website that the fires “are not out of control,” saying that almost all fires in 2019 are on the least serious end of the scale. It said 2,409 federal firefighters are aiding all states to put out the fires and the regime has not reduced its resources for fire control.

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Cristina Tozzi, 47, who has lived in Toronto since 2010, said she hasn’t seen any event like the Amazon fires that have touched so many Brazilians’ hearts.

“This is a serious matter. The fire is causing so much damage. We see black smoke coming out of the Amazon that turned day to night,” said the community worker, who attended one protest at Queen’s Park in August and plans to attend the Saturday rally. “We have no time to lose.”

Luisa Farah Schwartzman, a native of Rio de Janeiro, admits she is not a fan of Bolsonaro, but his deregularization policies placing economic interests over preservation is the last straw. While the fires are an immediate concern, she warns the long-term impacts of the president’s environmental policies are a bigger worry.

“The Amazon is a global problem,” said the 41-year-old sociology professor at University of Toronto, who has lived here for a decade. “We all feel helpless. We don’t know if (the rallies) are going to have any impact or not, but this is the least we can do to help raise awareness.”

With files from Alex Ballingall

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