Brasilia -  A total of 9,078 fires were recorded between January and August in 274 indigenous lands in Brazil, an 88 percent increase over the same period in 2018, according to the Indigenous Missionary Council.

Linked to the National Conference of Bishops, this organization details that in the same period of 2018, a total of 4,827 fires were registered in those territories, mainly in the Amazon.

The increase in wildfires in indigenous regions is now even greater than the total increase in nationwide, which in the same period increased by 71 percent.

In addition to the increase in the total number of outbreaks, the number of indigenous territories affected also rose from 231 in 2018 to 274 this year, an 18.6 percent increase.

In August alone, there were 4,754 outbreaks of wildfires in these areas, 52.4 percent of those identified nationwide this year.

The comparison with the same month of 2018 is even more discouraging: in August of last year there were 2,036 outbreaks of fire in indigenous areas, that is, there was an increase of 133.5 percent from one year to the next in that month.