Federal Government releases over BRL 514 million to combat Amazon wildfires, drought

The Federal Government will allocate BRL 514,474,666.00 (five hundred and fourteen million, four hundred and seventy-four thousand, six hundred and sixty-six reais) [approximately USD 94.909.257.43] for emergency measures to combat the effects of wildfires and severe drought that has hit a large swathe of Brazil’s Northern Region and Legal Amazon. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will sign a provisional measure to release extraordinary funds for various ministries and public agencies. These agencies will investigate arson, provide essential infrastructure to fight fire outbreaks and assist the populations impacted by these disasters.

180 – The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública), through the Federal Police, will fund the expenses of police teams for on-site investigations, including field operations with exclusive focus and mobility, satellite imagery analysis and forensic procedures to determine the origin of the fires. Additionally, the National Public Security Fund will be allocated resources to deploy and mobilize 180 new professionals from the National Public Security Force for a 100-day period.

ARMED FORCES – With the provisional measure, the Armed Forces will be able to continue their support to operations against wildfires and the drought in the Legal Amazon through the acquisition of materials (Personal Protective Equipment - PPE), employment of aircraft, transportation of firefighters to the operational areas, assembly and disassembly of logistical support infrastructure and river and land transportation, among others.

FOOD BASKETS – The resources earmarked for the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family, and Hunger Combat (Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social, Família e Combate à Fome) will enable the acquisition of 300,000 basic food baskets and 7 tons of food from 2.600 family farmers for distribution to families in the region who have been affected by the climate emergency.

ADDITIONALS – Furthermore, resources will be used to intensify the combat of fire hotspots in federal land reform settlements through the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária / INCRA), under the Ministry of Agrarian Development (Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário). Other actions include tending to populations affected by the fires (Ministry of Integration and Regional Development [Ministério da Integração e do Desenvolvimento Regional]); adopting emergency protection and health measures for Indigenous populations, including actions to combat food insecurity and ensure social protection on an emergency basis (Ministry of Indigenous Peoples [Ministério dos Povos Indígenas]), through the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas / FUNAI). In Amazonas and other regions, many Indigenous and riverside communities have become isolated as the drought has lowered river levels, making navigation impossible.

RESTRUCTURING – The President of the Republic is also set to sign a dispatch that grants 60 days for restructuring the Civil Defense. This decision aims to strengthen the agency in response to the increasing frequency of extreme climate events

COMMITTEES – Another measure has been announced regarding the signing of a decree to establish the Interinstitutional Management Committee and the Executive Committee as part of the Pact for Ecological Transformation (Pacto pela Transformação Ecológica). This pact, signed by the three branches of the government, was instituted less than a month ago at Planalto Palace.

BNDES –The Chief of Staff also announced a measure that will relax the rules for the celebration of contracts with the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). A provisional measure will be sent to the National Congress in the coming days to deal with the issue, aiming to confer more agility to the application of resources provided by the bank.

FUND – There are also provisions for the establishment of a new fund dedicated to managing resources specific to other biomes – Caatinga, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pampa and Pantanal. This measure aims to facilitate donations from international sources.

EQUIPMENTS – Resources from the Union’s General Budget and the Amazon Fund, will be used to purchase new aircraft and wildfire combat kits and to strengthen equipment projects destined for the Firefighting Corps at the state level.

SANCTIONS – The Federal Government is also going to expand administrative sanctions applied to environmental infractions. The objective is to ensure the revision of the values and the introduction of new types of fines.

SITUATION ROOM – To enhance and maintain wildfire monitoring and control procedures, the Federal Government’s Situation Room will continue to meet weekly. The mechanism was established three months ago and is coordinated by the Chief of Staff, Minister Rui Costa.

PERMANENT – Last week, President Lula and various ministers went to the state of Amazonas, where they visited communities affected by the dry spell. On the occasion,  they announced BRL 500 million (approximately USD 92.38 million) for interventions that will allow navigability and product flow in state rivers. Additionally, 150 potable water purifiers were sent to the region for distribution.

These announcements are part of a series of actions promoted by the government to minimize the impacts of the drought, which has been more severe than that of 2023 and previous years. In addition to an unusually early dry spell – the worst in the last seven decades – the continent is facing one of the most intense El Niño in history, exacerbated by the acceleration of extreme climate events in various countries, a trend the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had projected for the coming decades.

RECORD –  During the event of September 10 in Manaus, the president signed a decree defining the competencies of the National Committee for Integrated Fire Management (Comitê Nacional de Manejo Integrado do Fogo) and the Integrated Multi-Agency Center for Federal Operational Coordination (Centro Integrado Multiagência de Coordenação Operacional Federal / Ciman).

Among the various strategies to monitor and combat the fires and drought, the Federal Government instituted two situation rooms to coordinate the actions to protect the environment and facing climate change (mitigation and adaptation to its effects) and assist the populations affected by deforestation and wildfires.

The measures were announced during a meeting between President Lula and representatives from the three branches of the Brazilian State, at the Planalto Palace. Image: Ricardo Stuckert / PR

Below are some examples of actions conducted by the Federal Government since 2023 to face the issue:

1. Planning and operationalization of processes to hire new firefighters and acquire new equipment; the Amazon Fund reached BRL1.3 billion in approved projects and public calls in 2023 (January and February 2024).

2. President Lula signed a pact with state governors to combat wildfires in the Pantanal and the Amazon, and the Presidency called a meeting to discuss the drought and wildfires in the Pantanal (June 2024).

3. The Federal Police installed a crisis cabinet to investigate the source of the wildfires in the Pantanal; installation of a Multi-Agency Operative Base and Integrated Command in Corumbá, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (June 2024).

4. Installation of a local Multi-Agency Operative Base and Integrated Command at Km 100 of the Transpantaneira Highway, in Poconé, in the state of Mato Grosso (June 2024).

7. The Federal Government announced the creation of three multi-agency inter-federative fronts to combat the wildfires in critical areas in the Amazon, after meeting with state governors from the biome and the Pantanal; the Federal Government supported combat and monitoring measures in areas affected by wildfires in the state of São Paulo with six aircraft, including a KC-390 and around 400 military personnel (August 2024).

8. President Lula followed the monitoring of wildfires throughout the country at the Prevfogo headquarters in Brasilia; The Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI) authorized IBAMA to hire temporary brigades in 20 states (August 2024).

9. After four years of inactivity, both the Permanent Interministerial Commission for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation and Wildfires and the Amazon Fund resumed their activities.

10. Launching of the Action Plan for Integrated Fire Management (Plano de Ação para o Manejo Integrado do Fogo / MIF) in the Pantanal (April 2023).

11. Launching of the new version of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (Plano de Ação para Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal / PPCDAm).

12. Launching of preliminary data from DETER Pantanal and PPCerrado (November 2023).

13. The establishment – two months in advance – of the Integrated Multi-Agency Center for National Operational Coordination (Ciman), which brings together federal bodies and agencies involved in firefighting efforts, with the participation of the governments of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.

14. The Senate approved the National Policy on Integrated Fire Management (Política Nacional sobre Manejo Integrado do Fogo), important for the prevention and control of wildfires throughout the country.