"I think it will bring relief during this time," she said of the ban.
More people, particularly children and the elderly, have been suffering respiratory problems in Porto Velho, where smoke from the fires has often shrouded the sky in past weeks.
The 60-day ban will help curb the burning but its effect could be "very limited" if people ignore it as the peak burning season starts, said Xiangming Xiao, a plant ecologist at the University of Oklahoma who studies deforestation in the Amazon. Most fires in Brazil are set in late August, September and early October, he said.
"Both legal and illegal fire events occurred in Brazil. It will be very challenging to identify and separate them," he said.
There are also questions about how effectively Brazil can enforce the 60-day ban. A letter released this week and signed by more than 500 workers from the Brazilian environmental agency Ibama said a lack of government support had hurt their work and led to an increase in environmental crimes in the Amazon and elsewhere.
Brazil's forest code normally allows farmers and others to set some fires as long as they have licences from environmental authorities.
This year, however, there was a sharp increase in nationwide fires over the same period in 2018, raising concerns that people were emboldened to burn more after Bolsonaro said rainforest protections were blocking economic development.
Bolsonaro suggested — without citing evidence — that environmental groups were setting illegal fires to try to destabilise his Government and sparred with French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders who questioned his commitment to protecting the Amazon ecosystem.
The acrimony sidelined a pledge of $20 million ($31.3m) from the Group of Seven nations to help protect rainforest in the Amazon. Much of the burned land had already been deforested, but the location of many fires next to intact forest reflected the increased threat of deforestation.
In a speech yesterday, Bolsonaro thanked US President Donald Trump "for defending Brazil at the G7", an apparent reference to complimentary tweets from Trump as the Brazilian President was being criticised by Macron and others.
The fires, often set to open land for pasture, have led to some economic fallout. VF Corporation, a US holding company for shoe and clothing brands, said it will stop buying Brazilian leather and hides.
The company, whose brands include Vans, The North Face and Timberland, said it won't buy again "until we have the confidence and assurance that the materials used in our products do not contribute to environmental harm in the country".
The Amazon rainforest is vital for the planet's health in part because it drains heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Also yesterday, Bolivia said it will ask for more international help to contain similar fires that were set to clear land and, in many cases, got out of control in strong winds.
"We're talking to Russia, China and France about aid," said Foreign Minister Diego Pary, who did not provide details. Fires have occurred in Bolivia's part of the Amazon and in the province of Santa Cruz, the country's agro-industrial centre.
A US aircraft, the B747-400 SuperTanker, has been flying over devastated areas in Bolivia to help put out fires. Peru sent two helicopters and Argentina announced the deployment of a 140-member team to fight Bolivian fires.
Fire sale: Cattle industry's link to destruction of the Amazon
20% of global beef exports come from Brazil, making it the world's leading beef exporter
1.64m tonnes of beef was exported last year, the highest volume in history, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association
44% of all beef exports from Brazil last year went to China and Hong Kong
14.5% of global greenhouse emissions comes from livestock, while beef is responsible for 41% of those emissions
- AP
