Buenos Aires, Argentina - Tens of thousands of fires swept through the Brazilian Amazon during the recently concluded forest fire season, with the environmental organization WWF reporting on Monday that the blazes destroyed an area about the size of Italy.

From the beginning of the year to the end of November, around 135,000 fires were registered, according to recent data released by the Institute for Space Research (Inpe), which is responsible for satellite monitoring.

This was about 44% more than in the same period last year. In the Amazon region 50,000 square miles were affected by the fires.

In addition, almost 80,000 fires were reported in the Cerrado savannah – around 64% more than in the previous year. The Pantanal wetlands saw 14,500 wildfires – an increase of almost 140%.

WWF said a total of 116,000 square miles were affected in the three regions.

"In most cases, the fires are caused by arson. Year after year, valuable forest is torched, primarily to make way for soybean plantations and cattle pastures," said Konstantin Ochs, a Brazil consultant at WWF Germany.

"Without Brazil's forests, the goals of the Paris Agreement cannot be achieved. Halting deforestation is absolutely essential and irreplaceable for climate protection," he said.