Conservation x Wildfires
OBSERVATIONS
The map that we have assembled with NASA data shows, in red, the list of forest fires and, in green, the areas of environmental preservation. It is possible to observe that, across the globe, there are places with greater fire intensity, such as in South America, Southeast Africa, and North America. In Oceania, it is possible to see that there are many conservation areas that, unlike the other places mentioned above, have fewer fires caused by human action. However, there are seasonal periods when there are natural fires in the biome. However, with the increase in temperature and drought, these fires are getting worse.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), "fire affects about four million square kilometers of Earth's land each year", an area equivalent to about half the size of the United States, larger than India, or approximately four times the size of Nigeria.
Forests are essential to delay the greenhouse effect, as they are carbon reservoirs, slowing global warming. When there is an increase in temperature, caused by deforestation, it is common for forest fires to increase in dry regions such as the savannah and the cerrado. However, in addition, it is common for miners and farmers to cause fires to clear areas of vegetation to gain access to the ground, resulting in large fires and the destruction of vegetation in regions where fires are not natural to the biome.
Data from NASA, the United States space agency, and the Copernicus System of the European Union, reveals that the fires in New South Wales (Australia), in the Siberian Arctic, on the west coast of the United States, and in the Brazilian Pantanal were the biggest of all time, based on 18 years of global forest fire data compiled by the organizations.
IN BRAZIL
Based on NASA satellite data, it is possible to identify that forest fires are spreading to the Amazon basin and the wetlands. Unlike drought conditions on the west coast of the United States, forest fires in Brazil are mainly caused by deforestation, which some environmentalists say is driven by government policies supporting agriculture and mining. A new monitoring system with images from the VIIRS, developed by NASA with the Universities of California at Irvine (USA) and Cardiff (UK), indicates that 54% of fires registered this year in the Amazon are associated with deforestation. The fire has already destroyed 15% of the region, 2.3 million hectares.
But it's not just the rainforests of South America that are burning. In the south of the Amazon, in the Pantanal, fires are also intense.
The people who suffer most from this environmental injustice are the natives of these regions. In Brazil, indigenous communities are threatened with extinction because of these fires. According to a Brazilian documentary, "Konhun Mág – the Way Back to the Canela Forest", it is possible to understand that while nature is being destroyed, so are the indigenous peoples. It is not just a matter of life and death, but also the cultural loss of a long history of discoveries by these peoples. Prejudice against indigenous peoples arises a lot from this view that they are currently backward people and therefore do not keep up with the development of technology. However, this construction is strictly incorrect. Indigenous people are an essential part of society. They have different cultures, knowledge, and many social concepts.
One of our goals on this site is to highlight and try to change this prejudiced concept ingrained in society. Therefore, you can access our posts on the website. If you come across one of these "Injustice Things", you can report it here too on the site. Depending on your situation and adherence, we can create a petition and send it directly to the authorities demanding changes and actions. Communicate with others who can help the cause to sign the petition.
Data from NASA, the United States space agency, and the Copernicus System of the European Union, reveals that the fires in New South Wales (Australia), in the Siberian Arctic, on the west coast of the United States, and in the Brazilian Pantanal were the biggest of all time, based on 18 years of global forest fire data compiled by the organizations.
INTERPRETATIONS
When there are political interests in the destruction of environmental preservation areas, agribusiness will inevitably advance in demarcated regions and forest areas, because, for planting or for raising cattle, the area must be clean, and carry out Burning is the cheapest method available. However, in addition to the charred vegetation, fire also consumes the soil, which loses nutrients and becomes impoverished, which harms the forest's natural regeneration process. In addition to the soil, the biome's biodiversity is also threatened, as fires cause a change in the food chain. Even larger trees, which survive the fires more easily, eventually succumb sometime later because of the difficulty of surviving in an unfavorable environment. The Amazon is of fundamental importance in controlling the planet's climate and in the availability of rain. In other words, with the burned forest, we do not have water and food production. Therefore, your help in making complaints is essential to keeping the forests standing.
Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15) is one of 17 programs established by the UN that aims to "protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, manage forests sustainably, combat desertification and halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity". This discussion is extremely important for Brazil due to the loosening and lack of environmental laws, inspection, and the power of action of environmental protection agencies, as fires and the destruction of the ecosystem contribute to a whole change in temperature, rain, air currents, in Brazilian territory. In 2020, the UN suggested opening an international inquiry into the burnings in the Amazon and other parts of the country, such as the Pantanal, during the Bolsonaro government. For example, without the Amazon, the world would be hit by the devastation of climate change, killing countless people and pushing millions into misery. The burning of the Amazon rainforest poses a catastrophic risk to the human rights of billions of people around the world.
According to data from Inpe Queimadas, July registered 4,977 hot spots in the Amazon biome, all illegal, since Decree No. 10,735, which prohibited the use of fire in Brazil, has been in force since June 28, 2021.
A survey by the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) shows which Indigenous Lands (TIs) and Conservation Units (UCs) are most affected by fires in the Brazilian Amazon. During this period, the ten Indigenous Lands most affected by fires were the Araguaia Indigenous Park (TO), the Pimentel Barbosa TI (MT), the Parabubure TI (MT), Apyterewa TI (PA), Marãiwatsédé TI (MT), Kayapó TI (PA ), TI Areões (MT), TI Kanela (MA), TI Mundurucu (PA) and TI during (MT). In the Araguaia Indigenous Park, there were 752 hot spots in the last month. In all, there were 3,553 hot spots in 148 Indigenous Lands in the Brazilian Amazon.
In Conservation Units, the situation is also serious. There were 7,368 hot spots in 118 UCs. APAThe ten Pennsylvania counties with the most burned areas between July 20th and August 20th were as follows: Florex Rio Preto-Jacundá (RO), Flona do Jamanxim (PA), Resex Jaci Paraná (RO), Pes do Mirador (MA), Apa do Tapajós (PA), Esec in Terra do Meio (PA), Flona de Altamira (PA) and Pes de Guajará-Mirim (RO).
Through carbon sequestration or capture, trees reduce the effects of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere. And this process is carried out naturally, through the growth of plants, through photosynthesis, and agribusiness will inevitablyConcerningwith the absorption of the ocean and soil.
But trees are not just essential for our atmosphere. They also have this role for our biosphere, which is the set of all ecosystems on our planet. A survey published by Nature Magazine, involving researchers from several countries, showed that restoring just 30% of the Earth's priority areas would sequester 49% of the total increase in carbon in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution and still prevent the extinction of 71% of the species. currently threatened.
Dan Benner and fellow ecologist Nathalie Butt of the University of Queensland in Australia set out to look at what would happen to carbon levels if forests located in parks and reserves in South America, Asia, and Africa were cleared. These areas represent, in total, 20% of all tropical forests. Using statistical models, the researchers were able to estimate how much carbon this deforestation would release into the atmosphere.
They found that protecting these areas between 2000 and 2012 represented the same carbon emission reduction if deforestation rates were reduced by about 30% over that same period. Their findings were published in the online version of Scientific Advances on October 25th.
Man-made deforestation is responsible for nearly 10% of the total carbon emitted globally, but tropical forests also retain 68% of the natural carbon of forests in the roots, trunks, and crowns of trees.
The team of researchers found that South America's reserves absorbed most of the carbon during that period – about 406.5 million tons. Asia's protected areas absorbed 28 million tons, and Africa's 14 million tons more.
Currently, we are already facing 1 degree Celsius of warming. For the UN scientists, who have reviewed more than 6,000 studies, we are very close to reaching 1.5oC and even reaching 2oC of warming in the first half of the century, that is, within thirty years. This is the minimum safe level for the way we live on the planet. The only possible solution, says the report, is to halve the emission of gases that heat the planet by 2030, and then bring them to zero in 2050, in addition to absorbing part of the carbon that is already in the atmosphere. On this path, new technologies and clean energy are not enough – forests will also play a fundamental role.
"In the scenario outlined by the IPCC, the future of humanity depends not only on eliminating fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and zeroing deforestation on a global scale to reduce emissions, but also on protecting forests, savannas, and other forms of natural vegetation to capture the excess CO2 that is already in the atmosphere and that will still be emitted during the transition to a carbon-neutral economy," says Paulo Adário, Greenpeace Forests international strategist.
The Amazon is the center of the world. And the Xingu basin is one of its epicenters: it is a corridor of 28 million hectares of protected areas and preserved forests that extend along the Xingu River and its tributaries. This corridor is essential for the maintenance of socio-biodiversity and the global climate, but it is on the threshold of predatory exploitation of its natural resources and destruction. The future of Xingu is closely linked to the future of humanity, but for now, it is not the most promising: deforestation in the first half of 2021 was the worst in three years, according to monitoring carried out by the Observatório De Olho no Xingu of the Xingu+ Network, an alliance that brings together 25 organizations from all regions of the basin and is a milestone for local governance.
The Apyterewa IT is the most deforested in Brazil. "Our land is close to many cities, so it is full of outsiders, farmers, and miners. There is machinery, farming, mining, burning, and hunters on our land, and that worries us a lot. Where will the Parakanã people live? Without land, no one lives. We are at great risk of losing our land, our rivers, our forest. Everything is being taken away", said Tyé Parakanã.
Illegal fires in the Brazilian Amazon have a direct impact on the health of indigenous peoples in the region. An unprecedented study by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) shows that there is an average increase of 25% in hospitalizations of indigenous people over 50 years old for respiratory problems as a result of fires. It is proof that the lack of inspection and the encouragement of forest destruction directly affect the health of the region's population and, in the case of indigenous people, of communities that protect and live in forests.
The arrival of the fire season-largely caused by illegal deforestation in the Amazon during the Covid-19 pandemic is an alert to the high risk that illegal forest fires pose to native populations. In addition to comorbidities, which can aggravate the condition of Covid-19, hospitalizations as a result of fires can further saturate public hospitals, already overloaded by patients infected by the new coronavirus. Indigenous peoples are at particular risk, as the Covid-19 mortality rate is 1.5 times the national average.
The ISA researchers identified that, between 2010 and 2019, the peak of indigenous hospitalizations for diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, influenza, acute bronchitis, acute bronchiolitis, and other acute respiratory infections coincides with the period of forest fires. The reason is the high concentration of airborne particles, which are harmful to the bronchioles and pulmonary alveoli, structures responsible for breathing.
Inside Maribel, there are many farmers. In the territory, there is the region 185 south that connects to the municipality of Uruará and this indent is very large that opens up branches to the municipalities of Placas, Medicilândia, and Brasil Novo, so the loggers end up entering our areas and threatening the riverside dwellers who live in the Iriri region. Farmers and big people come into our region and threaten us with revolvers, with shotguns, if we don't participate in the whole situation that is happening.
Territorial loss, caused by deforestation and fires, causes displacement in search of safer places but brings other dangers: an involuntary approach to neighboring populations and possible contagion of diseases. The situation is further complicated by the presence of covid-19, a pandemic whose exponential growth seriously compromises the lives of these peoples, the living heritage of America, and humanity.
There is an absence not only of policy definition and policy implementation, but there is also a presence of the state through a development model, in which they promote the construction of hydroelectric plants, agribusiness, which advances into territories, burns and invades territories of the isolated. And there is a total absence of the State to curb illegal actions, especially in regions where there are isolated indigenous peoples, which, when there is an impact on their territories, create conditions for these peoples not to survive.
Another result presented is that a common element at the origin of the increase in fires is human action, driven by situations such as the expansive practices of agribusiness and extractive industries such as lumber and miners. This situation, together with the lack of effective regulatory frameworks for the protection of isolated indigenous peoples, makes their situation increasingly precarious.
For the Legislative Houses of the countries that make up the entire Amazon territory, it is recommended that they legislate on a proposal for a National Policy for Integrated Fire Management, which results in a plan to prevent and combat deforestation in the Amazon, Grande Chaco, and Cerrado.
For civil society and nation-states, the suggestion is that they support the initiatives of indigenous peoples with a history of contact and their organizations, strengthening, for example, the formation of indigenous fire fighting and prevention brigades, in addition to supporting the self-protection of territories. Concerning multilateral organizations, more incisive action is requested by the States to fight fires and destroy indigenous territories and conservation units.
Territorial loss, caused by deforestation and fires, causes displacement in search of safer places but brings other dangers: an involuntary approach to neighboring populations and possible contagion of diseases. The situation is further complicated by the presence of covid-19, a pandemic whose exponential growth seriously compromises the lives of these peoples, the living heritage of America, and humanity.
There is an absence not only of policy definition and policy implementation, but there is also a presence of the state through a development model, in which they promote the construction of hydroelectric plants, agribusiness, which advances into territories, burns and invades territories of the isolated. And there is a total absence of the State to curb illegal actions, especially in regions where there are isolated indigenous peoples, which, when there is an impact on their territories, create conditions for these peoples not to survive.
Another result presented is that a common element at the origin of the increase in fires is human action, driven by situations such as the expansive practices of agribusiness and extractive industries such as lumber and miners. This situation, together with the lack of effective regulatory frameworks for the protection of isolated indigenous peoples, makes their situation increasingly precarious.
For the Legislative Houses of the countries that make up the entire Amazon territory, it is recommended that they legislate on a proposal for a National Policy for Integrated Fire Management, which results in a plan to prevent and combat deforestation in the Amazon, Grande Chaco, and Cerrado.
For civil society and nation-states, the suggestion is that they support the initiatives of indigenous peoples with a history of contact and their organizations, strengthening, for example, the formation of indigenous fire fighting and prevention brigades, in addition to supporting the self-protection of territories. Concerning multilateral organizations, more incisive action is requested by the States to fight fires and destroy indigenous territories and conservation units.
When the forest burns, the smoke carries suspended particles, PM2.5. In 616 municipalities in the Amazon (81% of the municipalities analyzed), the concentration of this material was above the levels considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO). The highest concentrations of PM2.5 are in the state of Rondônia, north-central Mato Grosso, southwestern Pará, southeastern Amazonas, Manaus, and the Roraima region.
"Although I call it a particle, it is microscopic and can penetrate deep into the lung. This will cause an inflammatory process, a systemic effect, headache, pain in the body, all symptoms of a respiratory infection", explains Sandra Hacon, from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). According to the researcher, the smaller the particle, the worse the effect. In addition, the longer the exposure time, the greater the health risk. The study showed higher rates of hospitalization in the region known as the arc of deforestation.
The analysis carried out by ISA is the first national study to show a direct statistical relationship between environmental degradation and indigenous health, revealing a large overlap between hospitalizations associated with long-term exposure to fine particles produced by fires. The results suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution increases the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to the more serious effects of Covid-19.
