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BRASÍLIA— Citing lack of economic resources, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) determined on Wednesday that the forest fire fighting brigades that work to fight forest fires return to their bases starting at midnight. Thursday.
The order is in a letter signed by Ibama’s Director of Environmental Protection, Olímpio Ferreira Magalhães, and is addressed to firefighting agents linked to the National Center for Prevention and Combat of Forest Fires (Prevfogo).
“Give the determination that all PREVFOGO brigades return to their home bases at 12:00 am on October 22, 2020, where they must wait for employment orders in field operations,” says the document.
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The determination, according to Ibama, was motivated by the lack of financial resources to pay the agency’s expenses. The lack of funds was detailed in another internal document signed by the agency’s Director of Planning, Administration and Logistics, Luis Carlos Hiromi Nagao.
“Considering that the negotiations with higher bodies to solve the problem have not yet taken effect, I announce the unavailability of financial resources for the end of the current month, and it is not possible to proceed with the payment of expenses of this Municipality”, says the missive.
The order to return to Ibama’s bases comes in the midst of one of the biggest environmental crises in the country’s history. Data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) show an increase in the number of fires in the Amazon by 25% between January 1 and September 20 of this year compared to the same period last year. This year alone, more than 89,000 fires have been recorded in the region, the highest number since 2010.
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Another endangered biome is the Pantanal, which this year registered the highest number of fires since 1998, when the data began to be counted. The increase compared to last year reaches 217%.
GLOBO has contacted the Ministry of the Environment, but has not yet received a response.
