Dear NRDC Activist,

I'm sure that just like me and millions of others around the world, you've been watching in horror as raging fires continue to destroy the Amazon rainforest.

Every single minute, flames are burning the rainforest at a rate of one-and-a-half football fields. Already, 3,500 square miles have been reduced to ash.

These fires are no accident. They are intentional — ignited by Brazilian ranchers who are emboldened by their pro-deforestation, climate change-denying president.

And that very same person, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has the power to stop them. But moving him to do so will require an enormous global outcry. This is why we need your voice right now: Demand that President Bolsonaro STOP these fires, STOP sacrificing conservation and Indigenous communities, and act to PROTECT this irreplaceable natural resource from any future harm.

NRDC will deliver your petition letters to Brazil's ambassador to the United Nations at their U.N. mission in New York City just before the U.N. General Assembly later this month.

Bolsonaro has been emphatic in his response to worldwide concern over the fires, saying that the "Amazon is Brazil's, not yours."

But what he won't acknowledge is that protecting the Amazon is good for Brazil and the planet. Bolsonaro's current policies are short-sighted. And right now, the raging fires are doing permanent damage, destroying irreplaceable biodiversity, and threatening Indigenous communities and lands.

Continued deforestation and burning could turn this lush rainforest that is critical to our survival into a savannah-like ecosystem, releasing unprecedented amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, permanently altering our planet's rainfall patterns, and further raising temperatures — all at a critical moment when we need bold climate action.

In the midst of the global climate crisis, we simply cannot afford to lose one of the world's largest carbon dioxide sinks or threaten its incredible biodiversity.

Send your urgent message now: Tell Brazilian President Bolsonaro to stop burning the Amazon — and throwing our planet into further climate crisis.

We all have a role to play in protecting the Amazon. For example, meat production is a major driver of Amazon destruction — one study found that over 60 percent of the cleared area in the Amazon is used for cattle grazing. So eating less meat will help protect this invaluable resource.

But right now we have an urgent need to ratchet up international pressure on President Bolsonaro to change course and safeguard the Amazon rainforest.

There is only one Amazon. And we have a responsibility — an obligation — as humans and as people who care about this incredibly vital biome to speak up when world leaders fail us.

For the sake of our survival and the survival of countless species, we need your voice now.

I've sent my own letter to Bolsonaro. Join me and millions of others in sending yours, too.

Sincerely,

Mitch Bernard
President/Chief Counsel, NRDC