Human Rights Watch has accused Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro of giving a "green light" to illegal loggers to destroy Amazon and failing to protect those defending world's largest rain forest.

Bolsonaro, whose anti-environment rhetoric and policies have been widely blamed for a spike in fires and land clearing in Amazon this year, has promised to open up  remote region to more development even as he faces growing international criticism.

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Amazon deforestation doubled

Official figures show Amazon deforestation nearly doubled in first eight months of this year, compared with same period in 2018, to 6,404 square kilometres (2,472 square miles) -- more than twice size of Luxembourg. 

acceleration in deforestation has been blamed for sharp increase in fires this year, which official figures show have reached nearly 124,000, as land is cleared and burned to make way for cattle grazing or crops. 

A decrease in precipitation and a recent heatwave toger with strong winds are also factors in blazes. 

"Through his words and actions, President Jair Bolsonaro has effectively given a green light to criminal groups that are destroying Amazon and he has put defenders of forest at serious risk," said Daniel Wilkinson, managing director of HRW's Americas division, at Sao Paulo launch of a report on illegal logging in Amazon on Tuesday.

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Criminal networks operate deforestation process

Criminal networks can coordinate extraction, processing and sale of timber "on a large scale," and employ gunmen to intimidate or even execute those trying to stop m, report said. 

Brazil is one of deliest countries in world for land and environmental activists. 

It ranked fourth in 2018 with 20 deaths, Global Witness said in July. "Those responsible for violence are rarely brought to justice," said HRW report. In many cases, reports of death threats are t even investigated by police. 

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Far-right Bolsonaro, who was released from hospital Monday after ar operation on his stomach following his stabbing at a campaign rally last year, has rejected Europe-led criticism of his environmental policies. 

He is expected to dress UN General Assembly next week on huge fires in Amazon.

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