“…the fire started earlier and started in very high numbers in June, which was the worst June in history…”
Gustavo Figueirôa is the director of communications and engagement at Instituto SOS Pantanal, co-founder of GreenBond, a startup focused on raising funds for biodiversity conservation and sustainability projects.
Figueirôa has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Mackenzie, specialized in wildlife management and conservation from Universidade Santo Amaro.
Gustavo Figueirôa, communications director at SOS Pantanal
AgriBrasilis – Why are there so many fires happening in the Pantanal Biome at this time of year?
Gustavo Figueirôa – The first factor is the extreme drought happening right now. The Pantanal has been going through a drought in recent decades. In the last 5 years, the biome has been experiencing a very strong drought, and in 2024 we are experiencing the worst year in the historical series.
Many places that were flooded for much of the year are now dry in 2024. And the biomass that is produced in areas that have a lot of water is also dry and available for the fire to consume it. The fire burns very quickly and encounters this dry vegetation, which is a perfect scenario for it to spread.
Furthermore, there is the human factor, which is responsible for more than 95% of fires in the Pantanal. This is not just the case of farmers who use fire to clear pasture: we have actually seen this scenario change in recent years. But many traditional communities still use fire to burn garbage, collect bait, honey, etc. The problem is that now the there is drought, which makes the fire very easy to spread.
The “new normal” in the Pantanal has changed. Fire was traditionally used by many people, but usually would quickly find a physical barrier, which was water, and it would stop. Now the water has decreased a lot and this fire finds no barriers and continues to spread.
AgriBrasilis – When are fires most frequent in the Pantanal Biome and with what intensity?
Gustavo Figueirôa – Fires are more frequent from the beginning of the dry season, which runs from July to the end of September. But in 2024 there wasn’t even a proper flood in the Pantanal Biome, so the fire started earlier and started in very high numbers in June, which was the worst June in history.
AgriBrasilis – How much of the biome has already been compromised and what are the consequences?
Gustavo Figueirôa – In 2024, 763 thousand hectares were already consumed by flames. This is equivalent to 5% of the biome and the consequences are very bad. Many of these areas have already burned in previous years. They were in the process of recovery, but they burned again this year. The Pantanal’s window of resilience to fire is closing, decreasing, due to the greater intensity and frequency of fires.
AgriBrasilis – What is “peat fire” and why does it make firefighting difficult?
Gustavo Figueirôa – This is a type of fire that burns beneath the ground. The soil in the Pantanal Biome has a lot of organic matter, many layers, as if it were a cake with several layers of filling. This filling of organic matter burns underneath the ground and can burn silently for many kilometers without appearing, without showing signs on the surface, but as soon as it finds a favorable condition, it can burn again.
It is very complicated to fight fire in the Pantanal: sometimes you believe that you have already managed to extinguish the fire, but, if monitoring is not done well, as soon as the weather conditions are favorable, it may appear in another location.
AgriBrasilis – To what degree is the loss of biodiversity being observed in the region?
Gustavo Figueirôa – It’s difficult to say. This loss is great, but only focused studies will be able to demonstrate this, and studies are starting to be conducted now.
These studies will probably be published in 2025. It is necessary to wait for the results throughout the year to carry out the analyses. Either way, there is definitely a big loss of biodiversity.
AgriBrasilis – Are these scenarios reversible?
Gustavo Figueirôa – At this frequency that we are observing, it is very difficult to reverse the scenario. Due to the occurrence of fires year after year, the Pantanal is losing its resilience.
It is a very complicated scenario to reverse, especially since we have seen large fires every year affecting several regions that have already burned before.
AgriBrasilis – What are the SOS Pantanal initiatives?
Gustavo Figueirôa – We promote the Brigadas Pantaneiras program. Through this program, since 2020 we have helped to structure 24 brigades across the biome, on mars, communities, together with other civil society organizations. We work hard on prevention and brigade training, on equipping these brigades for safe firefighting.
We also have a 24-hour monitoring system, called Alerta Aracuã, which identifies outbreaks detected by NASA satellites and automatically sends the data to the nearest brigades. It is a continuous monitoring system.