Rains Quench Amazon Fires
4/11/98
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE
Heavy rains have extinguished the Brazilian fires, described by the
United Nations as an "environmental disaster without precedent on this
planet," early last week. Such blazes are becoming much more common
worldwide--including Mexico, Philippines, Thailand and of course
Indonesia--as overly intensive forestry and agricultural activities
fragment, and reduce the ecological condition, of remaining forests.
Following is a news account regarding the extinguishing of the fires,
and an older background piece that reemphasizes their incredible
nature.
g.b.
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ITEM #1
Title: Rains Quench Amazon Fires
Source: Associated Press
Status: Copyright 1998, contact source to reprint
Date: April 1, 1998
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Long-awaited rains in Brazil's drought-
stricken state of Roraima have put out most of the wildfires that have
blackened Amazon forest and pastureland over the last three months.
The first heavy rains in six months started Tuesday, just a day after
two Caiapo Indian shamans performed a rain-making ritual at the
Yanomami reservation, home to one of the world's last Stone Age
tribes.
It was one of several Indian reservations threatened by the blazes,
which charred 13,000 square miles -- 15 percent of the state.
``If it's a coincidence or not, I don't know, but it certainly seemed
to have done the trick,'' said Alan Suassuna, spokesman for the
Federal Indian Bureau in Boa Vista, 1,550 miles northwest of the
capital, Brasilia.
Suassuna estimated that the rains had extinguished 80 percent to 90
percent of the flames.
He said authorities would have a more accurate assessment after
reports from the army, which was to inspect the area by air today.
Carlos Pereira Monteiro, head of a United Nations' team of
firefighting experts that arrived Monday, called the fires ``a
environmental disaster without precedent on this planet.''
By Tuesday, some 1,100 firefighters -- from Venezuela and Argentina as
well as Brazil -- were battling the blazes.
ITEM #2
Title: THE WORST FIRE IN THE HISTORY OF THE AMAZON: A DISASTER FOR
THE YANOMAMI
Source: CCPY
Status: Distribute freely with credit given to source.
Date: March 1998
The biggest fire in the history of the Amazon has turned millions of
acres in Roraima, Brazil's most Northernmost state, into a blackened
waste littered with the corpses of dead wildlife and cattle. After
sweeping across the savannah in the north of the state, the fires now
threaten the Yanomami reserve in the west. The damage to the region's
biodiversity is incalculable. For much of the population of Roraima it
is a disaster: crops, livestock, and homes burnt, food and water hard
to get, respiratory diseases, smoke-filled air and unbearable heat.
The Yanomami, seeing for the first time the sun and the mountain tops
hidden by huge clouds of smoke as the fires creep nearer, fear it is
the beginning of the end of the world.
FIRES REACH THE YANOMAMI AREA
On 24th March Carlo Zacquini of the CCPY flew over the Yanomami
reserve to see the extent of the damage: he reported that for over an
hour the plane followed a line of fire advancing from east to west,
maybe thirty kilometres of it inside the Yanomami reserve towards
Catrimani. He saw also 15 firespots, some inside the reserve. He
described the Funai post at Apiau surrounded by burnt vegetation and
fire advancing along one side of the Mucajai river towards another
Funai post. There are Indian villages on the other side of the river.
The plane flew in and out of huge smoke clouds. The pall of smoke
hanging over the area has made it practically impossible for medical
teams to reach villages where there have been outbreaks of malaria.
Over 600 indians are now camped around the Toototobi post in search of
food, water and medical assistance. The Yanomami foresee hungry times
ahead because of the huge death toll of animals, birds, fish. One said
"So many animals dying - what will we eat?"
THE CAUSES
No rain has fallen in Roraima since August 1997. The drought, which
has affected all of the Amazon region, is being blamed on the climate
changes provoked by El Nino. Five months of drought meant that by
January the rivers had been reduced to unnavegable streams, the
grasslands were as dry as tinderboxes and the rainforest had lost much
of its humidity. But January is the month that farmers clear
undergrowth for planting using the traditional slash and burn method.
Because they have no other means of clearing the land, they went ahead
as usual. The fires got out of hand and spread over large areas of
savannah, burning cattle ranches and the pastures, gardens and
orchards of many Macuxi villages. On 22nd January Roraima governor
Neudo Campos declared a state of public calamity because of the
drought and appealed for federal funds to sink wells and dig small
reservoirs. His appeal was ignored, apparently because of the inflated
costs quoted. Throughout February the governor continued to appeal for
federal funds without response. On 1st February IBAMA, the federal
government environment agency banned farm fires: but many farmers,
unaware of the dangers or ignorant of the ban, continued to light
fires to clear their land. The local IBAMA Superintendent said it was
impossible to supervise 17,000 farms.
FIGHTING THE FIRES
The Roraima government had no forest fire expertise or equipment to
draw on. The local fire brigade was trained for dealing only with
urban situations. Roraima authorities declared themselves impotent to
stop the fires spreading. Civil defence head Kleber Cerquinho said "We
have lost control of the situation." In mid-March Governor Neudo
Campos asked for funds to hire 22 specially equipped fire-fighting
helicopters from a Venezuelan company, but this was turned down by
federal authorities as unnecessary. On March 19th the secretary for
Regional Policies, Fernando Catao went to Boa Vista to discuss federal
aid to the state government but admitted that only the rains could
extinguish the fires. Of the R$12 million requested by the governor,
R$2 million was promised. Several hundred volunteer firemen from other
Brazilian states and from Argentina and Venezuela began arriving in
Roraima to help the local force of 150 firefighters. Argentina also
supplied 4 helicopters equipped with monsoon buckets. 19th March The
Army's 1st Jungle Battalion took over coordination of the fire
fighting efforts, providing communications between the groups of
firemen. Soldiers were sent to cut trails through the forest and
protect firemen from wild animals fleeing the flames. The priority of
the firefighters was to protect properties threatened by the flames in
areas like Apiau. On March 20th seven new firepoints appeared in the
south, along the BR-174 highway. On March 24th Neudo Campos appealed
for more help saying "The situation is still not under control. Please
help us. We need planes to spray water and more men. We've never faced
a fire like this before. It's an ecological disaster." On March 25th
the Roraima government appealed to the federal government to hire
Russian planes equipped with water tanks. Another 500 firemen from
other regions of Brazil were expected in Roraima.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REACTION
Although federal agencies like IBAMA, FNS and FUNAI have local offices
in Roraima, the federal government was slow to realise the extent of
the catastrophe. Only when the Amazon fires became headline news in
the international press did the government take action. Friends of the
Earth accused the government of failing to reply to various offers of
assistance from the Disaster Relief Branch of the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP). UNEP's offer was to send a small team of specialists
to Roraima to elaborate an emergency plan, which would include the use
of the most advanced technologies as used in Indonesia. If accepted by
the Brazilian government, the plan could be put into action in 3 or 4
days. On March 24th, four months after UNDEP's first offer of help to
fight large-scale fires, the government announced that it had
accepted. Immediately military leaders in the Amazon criticised the
decision, General Luis Gonzaga Lessa, Military Commander of the Amazon
vetoed it saying that international aid was unwelcome, because it
meant foreign interference in the Amazon. General Luiz Edmundo
Carvalho, commander of the lst Jungle Brigade said overseas aid was
unnecessary, because the Amazon Military Command could offer all the
help needed. This split between the military and the government led
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to call a special meeting of the
Foreign Affairs and National Defence Council to discuss the situation
in Roraima on March 26th. At the meeting it was decided to accept a
US$5 million World Bank loan for fighting the fire and set up a task
force under General Carvalho to coordinate all activities in Roraima.
In Brasilia another committee headed by the National Secretary for
Regional Policies, Fernando Catao will analyse the many international
offers of aid which have apparently already been received by the
Brazilian government, but remained unanswered. According to a
newspaper report, it was also decided to begin a campaign to change
the image held by world public opinion that Brazil is not concerned
about the fate of the Amazon.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES
Official estimates of how much of Roraima's 221 million hectares have
been burnt vary. Governor Neudo Campos said 25 percent, the federal
government claimed it was only 3 percent. INPA ((National Amazon
Research Institute) reckoned 21 percent, INPE (the Space Research
agency) put it at 12 to 16 percent. Reinaldo Imbrozio Barbosa, INPA
researcher in Boa Vista said the fires will affect the biodiversity
and environmental equilibrium of the Northern Amazon contributing to
an increase in greenhouse gases like carbon and methane in the
atmosphere. He believes it will take at least 100 years for the
rainforest to recover. The drying out of the forest will make it more
susceptible to fires in the future, especially as the forecast for
1998 is of below average rainfall in the Amazon. In Roraima itself
there has been a huge toll of wildlife, as animals and birds fleeing
the fire die of hunger and thirst. Monkeys, deer, wild boar,
anteaters, sloths, tortoises are among the species affected. Hunters
are said to be taking advantage of the animals despair, shooting the
ones that crowd around the few waterholes they find. The river Branco,
normally used by barges, has been reduced from a depth of 8 metres to
shallow pools only 40 cm deep, interspersed with sandbanks, and can be
crossed on foot: the river Mucajai is down to half its normal width.
Two of the state's ecological reserves have been hit by the fires.
Fires have leapt the river Uraricoera into Maraca, which contains a
research centre and examples of every species in the state. Macuxi
villages in the savannah are surrounded by acres of ashes and dead
trees
FOOD PRODUCTION
Up to 12,000 out of 400,000 cattle have died. 300/400 dying a day from
hunger and thirst. Many of the state's small farmers have lost
everything: food production has been wiped out in the areas affected
by fire. Eighty percent of the savannah much of which had been turned
into rice and soybean plantations and cattle pastures, has been
devastated by fires. The indigenous populations numbering 22,000 have
lost cultivated areas and sustainable agriculture projects and face
hunger and thirst.
THE HEALTH SITUATION
The population of Roraima is suffering from the effects of the
prolonged drought, fires and smoke. In the capital, the numbers
needing treatment at the children's hospital have doubled from 100 to
200 a day, most of them with respiratory problems. On 16th March an
emergency meeting of medical professionals of NISI -RR
(Interinstitutional Nucleus on Indigenous Health in Roraima)
concluded that the fires had produced an environmental and
epidemiological catastrophe for the indian populations. In the
Yanomami area the NISI-RR reported that subsistence crops like manioc,
banana and sugarcane were badly affected by the long drought. Entire
communities whose streams and rivers had dried up, have had to travel
long distances in search of water while others survive on water from
holes dug in the earth. Where their gardens have been burnt, the
Yanomami are left without food to supplement game and fish now scarce
because of the drought and fire. Malaria has increased significantly,
and seriously ill patients cannot be removed to hospital because of
the difficult flying conditions. Malnutrition, epidemics of
respiratory diseases and an increase in malaria cases are now
expected. They concluded that weakened communities will find it more
difficult to get food from the forest and the ecological disaster
could produce plagues of pests.
THE YANOMAMI VIEW
For the Yanomami the explanation for the environmental disaster that
is engulfing them involves the goldminers who have invaded their lands
to seek gold. Legends say that if the minerals that strengthen the
earth and enrich the soil are removed, poisonous smoke will cover the
earth. The smoke that now covers the forest brings sickness: "In the
forest, in the mountains, there is sickness. If it burns, we will die"
said one leader. A Yanomami shaman, Paulinho foresaw the fires in a
dream: he saw the sky catch fire and the spirits die. Next day when
smoke covered the sky, his community fled in fear.
CONCLUSIONS
Brazil was entirely unprepared for such a disaster. Everyone, both
government, NGOs and indigenous organisations, reacted too slowly. The
federal government has no clear mechanism for responding to a disaster
situation: different agencies announced contradictory measures and
conclusions. The disaster revealed the total lack of any preparation
for forest firefighting, the absence of any specialised personnel or
equipment anywhere in the Brazilian Amazon. Although the Army and the
Air Force have many bases, planes, helicopters and battalions in
Roraima, they have no firefighting equipment or trained personnel, and
were just as slow to react as the civilians. Climate forecasts suggest
less rainfall, more drought and therefore more fires in the Amazon
region this year. This is not one off situation, but a pattern that
will be continued. Therefore not only emergency help is needed, but
long term solutions.
IMMEDIATE NEEDS OF THE YANOMAMI
1. Food aid for the Yanomami to cover the period until they can be
self supporting again (one year is the estimate). 2. Funds for the
purchase of the anti-malarial drug meflaquine and other necessary
drugs. 3. Funds for extra flying time needed to take assistance to the
sick in the villages. 4. Funds for digging a well at the Balawau
health post
CCPY RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The Brazilian government should immediately accept the aid, in the
form of know how, equipment and funds, being offered by other
countries and the UN. 2. The G7 Tropical Forests Pilot Programme
should condition further disbursements to the establishment by Brazil
of a forest firefighting plan including the training of personnel,
including indigenous personnel, and the acquisition of special
equipment. 3. A conference of government agencies, environmental and
indigenous organisations and farmers should be convened to discuss a
new model of sustainable development in the Amazon region, that would
substitute the use of fire by other technologies. 4. We would like to
see the UK government's previous offer of technology for the recovery
of degraded areas revived.