[ad_1]
The fires ravaging the Pantanal have already destroyed a quarter of the biome since the beginning of this year. In recent days, the most critical point is the Serra do Amolar (MS), one of the most conserved regions of the largest alluvial plain in the world.
From January 1 to last Saturday (3), the fires destroyed the fauna and flora of 3,977,000 hectares, an area slightly smaller than that of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The destroyed size corresponds to 26.5% of the Pantanal, of 15 million hectares.
In one week, the flames covered 516 thousand hectares, or a daily average of 73.7 thousand hectares. It is as if an area comparable to the municipality of Salvador burned every 24 hours.
The figures, published on Tuesdays, are from Lasa (Laboratory of Satellite Environmental Applications), from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), and were transmitted by Ibama.
Despite having the smallest part of the biome, Mato Grosso is the most affected state, with 2.16 million hectares. The Pantanal of Mato Grosso Sul lost 1.82 million, but it is where the fire is more advanced in recent days.
Until this Tuesday (6), the fire remained out of control in the Serra do Amolar. About 100 km north of Corumbá, it is one of the least anthropized areas of the Pantanal. The fires have already affected at least 102 thousand hectares in this region.
Through Prevfogo, Ibama has concentrated its efforts in the region. Brigadiers were brought from other states of the country, in addition to the reinforcement of Firefighters, National Force, agricultural employees, volunteers and the military.
On Saturday (3), the Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, was in Corumbá and flew over the burned areas by helicopter.
The Pantanal is going through its worst drought in decades. Below-average rains were not enough to cause seasonal flooding. As a result, many streams, such as lagoons and corixos, have dried up.
According to analysts, the vast majority of fires are caused by human action. Farmers and farmers in the region use burning for grazing management, for deforestation and for planting gardens.
With the dry weather, the fires started at the beginning of the year, traditionally the rainy season. Since then, the Pantanal has been breaking successive records for fire outbreaks. September registered the highest number ever recorded in the biome, according to Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) monitoring.
The Federal Police of Mato Grosso do Sul is investigating four farmers suspected of setting unauthorized fires, which got out of control and devastated at least 25,000 hectares.
The fire has devastated several protected areas since August. This is the case of the São Francisco do Perigara farm, the largest refuge for blue macaws in the world, and the Encontro das Águas State Park, a global tourist attraction due to jaguar observation tourism.
The fires also affected almost the entire RPPN (Private Reserve of Natural Heritage) in Poconé (MT). With 108 thousand hectares of native forest, it is the largest private protection area in Brazil.
Two of the three indigenous lands of the Pantanal were affected: Baía dos Guatós and Perigara, belonging to the Guató and Bororo peoples, respectively.
“We will never have the dimension of what we have lost this year,” says the president of the Instituto do Homem Pantaneiro (IHP), Ângelo Rabelo. “Certainly the species that were not discovered have disappeared.”
In recent days, Rabelo, a retired colonel from the Mato Grosso do Sul Environmental PM, has been in Serra do Amolar coordinating efforts against the fire.
Having lived in the region for four decades, he compares the impact of this year’s fire, the worst on record in the Pantanal, with one of the extreme weather events that changed the planet’s history. “Let’s try to turn the page and start over with what’s left.”
The reporters Fabiano Maisonnave and Lalo de Almeida traveled to Corumbá (MS) at the invitation of the Acaia Institute.
