Notícias
WILDFIRE COMBAT
Federal Government reinforces Pantanal firefighting operation with 14 aircraft
Ministers take part in the second meeting of the Situation Room. Photo: Wagner Lopes/ Office of the Chief Staff
The Federal Government announced on Monday (June 24) the additional mobilization of 14 aircraft and fire brigade personnel to combat wildfires in Pantanal. IBAMA (the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) and ICMBio (the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation) have already dispatched six aircraft to the region, with eight more expected to arrive from the Ministry of Defense in the coming days. The measures were announced after the second meeting of the Planalto Palace Situation Room to discuss wildfire and drought prevention and control measures.
“Some 250 federal government personnel have been deployed to Pantanal, including fire brigade personnel and teams from IBAMA, ICMBio and the Navy,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva. Reinforcements for the coming days will include another 50 fire brigade personnel from IBAMA and 60 National Force agents.
"More fire brigade members from IBAMA will be mobilized and hired as needed. We had to make changes to the regulatory framework to shorten the six-month hiring timeframe," said Marina Silva.
Historically, the Pantanal dry season occurs in the second half of the year, but climate change and El Niño have pushed forward and aggravated the drought. In May, the National Water Agency (Agência Nacional Das Águas) declared a critical water scarcity situation in the Paraguay basin for the first time.
"The entire Paraguay basin is under severe water scarcity. We haven’t reached the normal water level. We did not have any interval between El Niño and La Niña. And this left a large quantity of organic matter on the ground ready for combustion, which is causing wildfires beyond the curve compared with anything we have ever seen," declared the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.
According to a technical note from the Environmental Satellite Applications Laboratory (Laboratório de Aplicações de Satélites Ambientais/LASA) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), human activity has been the main cause of wildfires in this biome. State governments have prohibited controlled vegetation burnings until the end of the year, including for pasture renewal. The Ministry of Justice is investigating the possibility of arson to prosecute those found to be responsible.
"Even controlled burnings, which had been allowed in the Pantanal to address the waste situation, are now strictly forbidden," said Minister of Planning and Budget (Planejamento e Orçamento/MPO) Simone Tebet. "Any burning is considered a crime and we will be working together with state forces to hold criminally responsible those who set fire to the world’s largest floodplain."
According to Minister Tebet, this emergency allows the Federal Government to tap into emergency funds. At her request, an initial analysis of available resources will be carried out on Wednesday during a Budget Execution Board meeting.
"This allows us to responsibly spend whatever is necessary. There will be no shortage of resources, but no budget in the world will account for a lack of awareness," said Tebet.
Squadron Admiral Renato Rodrigues de Aguiar Freire, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, said that the Ministry of Defense is working to improve logistical support:
"Two main bases have been established so that fire brigade members and firefighters can be deployed and act quickly and efficiently against the fires," said the admiral. "In addition to the boats needed to move along the rivers, the Ministry provided six helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft. Among them is a KC-390, a state-of-the-art Brazilian aircraft equipped to counter wildfires with a 10,000-liter water-dispensing mechanism."
Ministry of Defense aircraft will join two helicopters and four air tractor aircraft equipped with water tanks sent by IBAMA and ICMBio.
About 85% of the Pantanal fires since January appeared in private properties, where state agencies are responsible for fighting them. IBAMA and ICMBio work primarily in federal areas, such as Conservation Units and Indigenous Lands.
"However, the Federal Government is currently fighting 20 of the 27 largest wildfires, even though they are not under our competence. Because fires are neither a state nor a municipal issue, they destroy life and generate economic, social and environmental losses," stated Minister Marina Silva.
On June 5, World Environment Day, President Lula signed a pact with the governors of the Pantanal and Amazon regions to fight fires and droughts. On Friday, an interministerial delegation will visit Corumbá, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which concentrated 65.8% of all fires in this biome between January 1 and June 24, according to data from the National Space Research Institute (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais/Inpe).
"Forces have been mobilized and federal personnel are acting in coordination. In April, the MMA adopted precautionary measures with state governments. In May, we at the MIDR issued an ordinance on water scarcity in the Pantanal, together with Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. Now, in June, we have an emergency decree, a situation room has been set up and the whole government is mobilized," said the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes.
The meeting was also attended by interim minister of Secom, Laércio Portela; the Executive Secretary of the Office of the Chief of Staff, Miriam Belchior; the Executive Secretary of the MMA, João Paulo Capobianco; the Secretary for Deforestation Control of the MMA andré Lima; the National Secretary for Protection and Civil Defense of the MIDR, Wolnei Wolff; as well as representatives of the ministries of Justice, Defense, Development, Industry, Trade and Services, as well as Ibama and ICMBio.
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