In The Amazon's Fire Season, 'You Either Burn Or You Starve'

Image: In the western state of Rondonia, a patch of the forest burns near a small farm. Kainaz Amaria/NPR

npr.org - November 5th, 2015 - Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

They call it the "burning season" in the Amazon, and when we arrive in Brazil's western state of Rondonia, it's on fire.

A thick, acrid smoke permeates everything, making it difficult to see. Fire, people say in Rondonia, is part of the culture of the state: the ash from the burned trees is the only way to make the land fertile, argue some.

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