RIO DE JANEIRO: The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon last month rose to 28 percent from July 2019, satellite data showed on Saturday, fueling fears the world’s biggest rainforest will again be devastated by fires this year.

Brazil’s national space agency, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE),identified 6,803 fires in the Amazon region in July 2020, up from 5,318 the year before.