Amazonas declares environmental emergency – 09/14/2023 – Environment

With almost 77% of the fire records for the entire month of August concentrated in just 12 days of September and with the forecast of a historic drought in the rivers, the government of Amazonas declared an environmental emergency in municipalities in the south of the state and in the metropolitan region of Manaus.

The decree was made after pressure from municipal secretaries who denounced the risk of an increase in fire outbreaks and the precarious conditions to combat them. Secretaries say there is a lack of support from the state and federal governments to control the flames. Ibama, in turn, states that the records are in areas that fall outside federal jurisdiction.

Since July, fires have increased in the state and, this month, with 4,127 fires until the 12th, Amazonas is at the top of the ranking of states with the highest number of fires, according to Inpe (National Institute for Space Research). Next, Pará (3,500) and Mato Grosso (1,954) appear.

On the list of the ten municipalities with the highest number of fires in September are five Amazonian cities in the region known as Amacro: Novo Aripuanã, Lábrea, Humaitá, Apuí and Manicoré. Second place in the ranking is Porto Velho, capital of Rondônia, also in the Amacro region. The first is Altamira, in Pará.

Amacro is the new frontier of agribusiness expansion on the border of Amazonas, Acre and Rondônia. The region is also marked by cases of deforestation for land grabbing.

At the beginning of the month, when the smoke from the fires filled the sky over Manaus and other cities in the Amacro region, the municipality of Apuí held its annual agricultural festival, with a procession of local politicians renewing promises to fight for the BR highway paving work. -319 and for agriculture in Amazonas.

According to the government of Amazonas, the municipalities of Benjamin Constant and São Paulo de Olivença, in Alto Solimões, and Envira and Itamarati, in Juruá, are in an emergency situation due to the drought. In 15 municipalities in the State, the situation is also on alert due to dry rivers. Another 13 are in a state of attention.

Those most affected by the fires and smoke, in the south of Amazonas, were those who received funding transfers to hire brigade members.

In the last two weeks, residents of the interior have had their crops and houses burned, school classes suspended, boat accidents recorded on rivers, in addition to the loss of wild and forest animals affected by the fire.

According to the government, R$1.1 million will be allocated to hire 153 brigade members in nine municipalities in the south of Amazonas and in the metropolitan region of Manaus, places with the highest number of hot spots.

The government also announced health measures to facilitate the evacuation of seriously ill patients from cities isolated by river droughts and support for rural producers due to losses due to drought.

The Environment Secretary of Maués (AM), Jane Crespo, who coordinates the Forum of Environment Secretaries of the State of Amazonas, celebrates the transfer, but regrets that it did not reach everyone who faces the problem and the lack of planning.

“There were warnings that we would go through this. We could have done it sooner”, he assesses.

Crespo says that the firefighters hired in recent days and the rains alleviated the fire and smoke in many municipalities. In fighting the flames, she says, the participation of indigenous people was also essential.

“There are lands where indigenous people only had to deal with fire because there were no people, not even at Ibama. We are providing guidance here in Maués and passing this idea on to the other secretaries, in order to prevent and combat fires with the help of indigenous leaders” , he states.

Ruy Marcelo, Accounts Attorney for Amazonas, states that the MPC (Public Accounts Ministry) has already acted on several occasions to strengthen the fight against fires as a perennial state policy. He points to the fires as a result of the high degree of illegal deforestation in the first half of the year.

“They pile up vegetation, sell noble wood and convert it into pasture and fields during drought. Another part is due to the habit of riverside dwellers burning dry leaves and waste without realizing that we are living in a climate crisis”, he says.

“There is little point in talking about millions in fines if the illicit acts are not effectively avoided and contained and the areas are not reforested. Therefore, actions both to control and induce development need to be strategic and integrated”, he adds.

Marcelo states that, in addition to planning to prevent and combat fires, governments should look for ways to deal with smoke in cities.

“It is very important that authorities understand what smog is [pluma de fumaça estacionária que torna crítico o nível de qualidade do ar] and whether contingency plans are organized to mitigate the risk in such a situation.”

Regarding the drought in the region, geoscience researcher at CPRM (Brazilian Geological Service) Jussara Cury states that the descents of the Negro and Solimões rivers, which form the Amazon, are regular, but their elevations are below normal for the time. .

“This was due to the accumulated negative rainfall in this region. Both in August and September, it rained below average. In the Amazon channel, the drops are regular, but with low levels”, he explains. “In the Madeira River, this week we entered with levels below the normal range, but with an expectation of recovery in September.”