Brazil’s pantanal states declare emergency over wildfires
The state governments of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul have decreed a state of emergency due to fires in the northern region of the pantanal—one of Brazil’s six biomes, located in the country’s Central-West region.
The decrees allow the federal government to take action in state-controlled areas through Civil Defense, in addition to sending resources to anti-wildfire efforts and to the affected municipalities.
The head of Brazil’s environment authority Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, is in Cuiabá, capital of Mato Grosso, to coordinate the measures. The plan is being defined jointly by federal and state agencies.
“We know the area affected is much smaller than in 2020, but the pantanal can be surprising. Every fire there needs attention. It’s no simple matter, so we’re going to work together,” he said in a statement.
Mato Grosso
The decree for Mato Grosso, published Tuesday (Nov. 14), is valid for 60 days and is a reinforcement of another measure that extended the fire ban period in the state until November 30.
The document cites adverse climatic conditions—prolonged drought, high temperatures, heatwaves, low air humidity, and intense winds—which favor the occurrence of fires. The situation also poses health risks, especially for the elderly and children.
In this state, the fires are concentrated in the Pantanal National Park, the Dorochê Private Natural Heritage Reserve, the state parks Encontro das Águas and Rio Negro, and private properties. The authorities are concerned about the fires spreading to the northern region of Mato Grosso do Sul.
On October 21, three lightning strikes hit preservation areas in the state, sparking fires. Since January, the federal government has been planning to prevent and fight fires in the biome. In May, the Action Plan for Integrated Fire Management in the Pantanal was launched.
The initiative resulted in preventive action to avoid the eventual spread of fire, like prescribed burning. The activities were carried out jointly with riverside communities around major rivers.
Due to the length of the dry season in the biome and difficulties in accessing areas with forest fires, the teams had to be reinforced. In addition, temperatures in the region are expected to rise over the next 15 days.
Mato Grosso do Sul
In Mato Grosso do Sul, the emergency decree, also published Tuesday, will be in force for 90 days and applies to the municipalities of Corumbá, Ladário, Miranda, Aquidauana, and Porto Murtinho—the most severely affected in the pantanal area.
The state’s monitoring report shows that, from January 1 to November 12, 2023, there was an 8.7 percent reduction in the area burned in the cerrado biome in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and a 95.8 percent surge in the pantanal biome compared to 2022.
“The state of Mato Grosso do Sul has been facing an intense heatwave, with temperatures between 38°C and 43°C, coupled with low levels of relative humidity between 10 and 30 percent,” the decree issued by the state government reads, citing temperatures of 42.7°C and 42.0°C in Porto Murtinho and Corumbá respectively, “resulting in hundreds of hotspots and major fires.”
