An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action Justice and Peace said the wildfires in the Amazon region represent a call for global action to protect biodiversity.“Collective global action to protect biodiversity,” Father Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of CBCP NASSA, said in an interview.
“Climate action becomes all the more necessary because the problem is exacerbated by the carbon monoxide coming off the burning Amazon,” he added. According to Gariguez, the destruction of the rainforest should be a concern of everyone as it was like destroying the “lungs of the world.”Gariguez added: The fire in massive scale is destroying the worlds largest biodiversity frontier, as well as the land of indigenous population.
He said even the bishops of Latin America noted that such a tragedy has regional and planetary proportions.“We need to address climate emergency thru our personal and organizational initiatives,” he added.On Sunday, Pope Francis also expressed concern over the vast fires in the Amazon region.The Holy Father also prayed that the fires, which is destroying vast tracts of tropical forest, will be contained as soon as possible.