As thick plumes of smoke blanketed Brazil’s most populous city Sao Paulo, global attention turned to the cause.

The Amazon, the world’s most biodiverse rainforest, was burning at a rate not seen in almost a decade.

It was decried as a global tragedy. Lit by farmers, the fires raged through villages, destroyed ecosystems and pumped climate-warming pollution into the atmosphere.

The Brazilian government, which has been criticised for winding back protections of the Amazon, sent in the army and slapped a temporary ban on fires used to clear land.

But one month on, the fires are still burning.