Brazil burned an area equivalent to Colombia and Chile between 1985 and 2022

In 38 years, Brazil burned 185.7 million hectares, an area equivalent to the territories of Colombia and Chile together, or 21.8% of the national territory. This is what the data from MapBiomas Fogo reveal, mapping that counted the extent consumed by the flames between the years 1985 and 2022 based on satellite images. “With this historical series of fire data, we can understand the effect of climate and human action on burning and forest fires”, says Ane Alencar, coordinator of MapBiomas Fogo and director of Science at the Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM) ). Using images generated by three Landsat satellites, the action of fire in all types of land use and land cover in Brazilian territory was tracked. According to the results, the Cerrado and the Amazon were the most affected biomes, corresponding to about 86% of the burned area. The Cerrado burned an average of 7.9 million hectares/year, that is, an area equivalent to the territory of Scotland each year. In the case of the Amazon, the average was 6.8 million hectares/year. When analyzing the proportions of affected areas within the biomes, the Pantanal was most affected: 51% of its territory was consumed by fire in that period. Coverage impacted by fire According to the analysis, more than two thirds (68.9%) of fires and fires occurred in native vegetation, although the proportion varies between biomes. Grasslands and savannas, for example, are the most affected types of native vegetation, while the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest have a higher incidence of fire in anthropic areas, that is, areas altered by humans, such as pastures. Mato Grosso was the state with the highest occurrence of fires in the analyzed period, followed by Pará and Maranhão. The municipalities that burned the most in the country were Corumbá (MS), São Félix do Xingu (PA) and Formosa do Rio Preto (BA). According to Ane, fire is not always undesirable. “Fire is only bad when it is used inappropriately and in biomes that do not depend on fire to maintain themselves, such as the Amazon. In biomes such as the Cerrado, the Pantanal, the Pampa, fire plays an ecological role and must be handled correctly so as not to become an agent of destruction”, explains the specialist. Frequency and intensity Although it is natural in some ecosystems, the data show that the frequency and intensity of fires have increased in recent years, due to deforestation and climate change, which affect temperatures and intensify periods of drought. “For this, practices related to Integrated Fire Management (MIF) are important, as they can, through prescribed and controlled burning, reduce the amount of combustible material and prevent large fires”, says Ane. The complete mapping data can be accessed free of charge on the MapBiomas platform, an organization that unites universities, NGOs and technology companies. The study also provides clippings by frequency, biome, state, municipality, watershed, conservation unit, indigenous land, settlements and areas with Rural Environmental Registry (CAR). This cadastre is a mandatory public record for all rural properties and gathers information for environmental and economic planning and for combating deforestation.

Agência Brasil