The Amazon rainforest has seen a record-setting wildfire season this year, fueled by an historic drought and scorching temperatures. In Brazil, the cumulative total estimated carbon emissions from the fires so far in 2024 has reached 183 megatons, according to Europe’s Copernicus atmospheric monitoring service—equivalent to the total annual emissions of the Netherlands. The most impacted states are Amazonas and Mato Grosso do Sul, where the great expanse of the Pantanal wetlands are located. The unprecedented fires come even as overall deforestation (defined as the permanent conversion of forest for another use, such as logging, mining or farming) has dropped in Brazil since President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva took office in January 2023. Fires now account for a much higher proportion of forest loss.
Peru is also facing a devastating environmental crisis due to widespread fires that have ravaged various regions of the country. On Sept. 18, President Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency in the regions of Amazonas, San Martín, and Ucayali. Approximately 3,500 hectares of natural areas and crop or pasture lands have been affected, mainly in those regions and La Libertad, Cuzco and Cajamarca. According to the National Institute of Civil Defense (INDECI), the fires have claimed 20 lives and left around 150 injured, some from burns and others from inhaling smoke
On Sept. 23, the Executive Branch presented a bill to Peru’s Congress aimed at establishing a legislative framework for the prevention and control of forest fires. The bill imposes criminal penalties for setting fires, and proposes measures to restore affected areas.
Bolivia is also seeing its highest levels of wildfire emissions since record-keeping began 22 years ago. (PRI, BIJ, Jurist)
Deforestation, mainly for mining and agricultural purposes, has led to the loss of 12.5% of the Amazon’s forest cover from 1985 to 2023, according to Brazil’s Amazonian Network for Spcio-Environmental Information (RAISG)—an area the size of Germany and France combined. (RFI)
Photo: Marizilda Cruppe/Greenpeace via Mongabay
