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The Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE) said in a satellite analysis of the recordings that, despite the closures caused by the coronavirus epidemic, a record number of fires occurred in Pantanal, Brazil, the largest wetland in the world, in March and April, writes MTI.
Pantanal caught fire in 602 places in March and 784 places in April, and such high values have not been seen in the months in question since the data began to be evaluated in 1998. Incidentally, the situation was also particularly bad last year, with more fires in wetlands in 2019 than at any other time in the last 15 years, but in the first quarter of 2020
169 percent more fire nests were recorded than in the first three months of the previous year.
Negative records were also broken in terms of the size of the burned area, between January and March of this year, 1,628 square kilometers of forest became the prey of the flames in the Pantanal, while in 2019, 1,172 square kilometers of fire in the same period. The situation, according to experts, is particularly worrying, especially in light of the fact that the forest fire season does not start until mid-year in the area.
Photo: NASA Earth Observatory
Burning deforestation is the cheapest way for smallholders to obtain arable land, and like the Amazon region, the expansion of grasslands and soybean plantations in Pantanal is the most dangerous for wildlife. Furthermore, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro does little to curb this, he is often accused of encouraging deforestation and not caring about the environment.
Pantanal is located in two states in Brazil, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso, but a small portion also extends to Bolivia and Paraguay. It has a total area of 150,000 square kilometers and rich wildlife like no other. During the rainy season, over 80 percent of its area is covered by water, thus maintaining the richest community of aquatic plants in the world.
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