The air shimmers with heat as the flames consume the dry grass. The sky over the endless expanse of the Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world, is shrouded in dense clouds of smoke.
“I think of the many animals suffering below, and the children in the village, for whom the smoke is particularly harmful,” says Laércio Fernandes while he takes a quick break.
The indigenous firefighter’s face is marked by soot, his eyes reddened. “We have to defend our environment, who else will?”
Fernandes is a member of one of the many local emergency forces from the nearby villages in the indigenous Kadiwéu territory, battling the flames in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
Measuring some 538,000 hectares, the Kadiwéu reserve is the largest indigenous area in the Pantanal.
Some 63% have been affected by forest fires so far this year, according to data from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
One of two bases for the fire brigades within the territory, Tomazia is a village of some 350 located some two hours by car from the city of Bonito.
The smoke hanging over Tomazia makes everything look sepia and the smell of ash permeates the air. Lessons have had to be cancelled in the past due to the pollution, school teacher Rosangela says.
She can’t remember when she last saw the sun in all its glory. Usually it’s only visible as a reddish, pale circle shrouded in thick clouds of smoke.
Deployments of the 85 local emergency forces, most of them indigenous, are coordinated from the village. Divided into several units, they are responsible for the entire Kadiwéu.
The fires don’t only release massive amounts of of carbon, but also increasingly threaten the indigenous communities’ habitats.
Fernandes takes a last sip of water before heading off again. He and colleagues carrying fire extinguishing backpacks and other equipment follow the line etched by the flames into the parched landscape.
There are no birds and other animals in sight. Recently, they discovered two charred land tortoises.
A unit is on duty for just under 24 hours before they are picked up by helicopter and taken back to the village.
The teams recently acquired a drone which helps detect new fires, allowing them to be extinguished before they spread further.
The drone also helps to ensure the firefighters are safe.
“The Pantanal can be very impassable; fallen trees can block paths. With the help of the drone, they can see not only where the fire is spreading but also how to get there,” says Heideger Nascimento from the non-governmental Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
Since September, he has been training the local emergency services in how to use the drone, providing both theoretical and practical instruction.
In addition to the firefighters in Kadiwéu, the EJF is also equipping other fire departments in another indigenous area with drones, hoping more communities in the Panatal can benefit in the future.
The Pantanal is one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet and is home to rare species, including jaguars, tapirs and hyacinth macaws.
The wetland, which extends from Brazil into neighbouring Bolivia and Paraguay, consists of an intricate system of rivers and lakes and is a unique natural and tourist paradise.
This year, the region has been experiencing an especially severe forest fire season. According to the Brazilian Institute of Space Research (Inpe), around 2,700 fires broke out in September alone, compared to 373 in the same month last year.
The number of fires recorded from January to the end of September was 1,427% higher than in the same period in 2023. By comparison, the number of fires in the Amazon rose by 80% over the same period, and by 86% in the Cerrado, the wet savannahs of south-eastern Brazil.
According to Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva, the fires are largely caused by human activity.
The main economic activity in the area is cattle farming. Farmers traditionally burn down forest areas to create new grazing land. If these fires get out of control, they can turn into massive wildfires.
The situation is further exacerbated by a severe drought this year. According to experts, this is linked to both the El Niño weather phenomenon and climate change.
Beyond the Pantanal, all of South America has been affected by forest fires this year, with the most severe blazes in almost 20 years raging in Brazil’s Amazon region.
Smoke is spreading across the entire continent. The metropolis of São Paulo, home to millions, recently recorded the worst air quality levels in the world because of the fires.
Forests are also burning in other countries, such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina. Bolivia’s government has declared a national state of emergency in order to provide further financial resources to fight the fires.
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa cut short his visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York because of the fires.
Indigenous representatives from several South American countries also recently came together in New York, looking to draw attention to the devastating forest fires and the increasing destruction of their lands.
The world must act now, demanded Raoni Metuktire, Kayapó chief and representative of the concerns of indigenous peoples in the Amazon. “Not just for our sake, but for the future of the entire planet.”
