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A wildfire that has been blazing for two months in the Brazilian Amazon forest threatens the lives and home of an Indigenous tribe.
The local government has declared a state of emergency since the inferno has devastated 100km of the forest in the northern state of Maranhão, showing no signs of abating.
Officials and environmentalists fear that the blaze was started deliberately due to animosity between indigenous “forest guardians” and illegal loggers.
Greenpeace estimates that the fire has obliterated almost half of the 413,000-hectare (1m acre) Indigenous Territory of Arariboia, a chunk of land larger than the entire area of Rio de Janeiro.
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#Indigenous lands are going up in smoke in the #Amazon—because of illegal logging. https://t.co/mDXbgYqRvW pic.twitter.com/PmDSuOB8ei
— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace)
October 26, 2015
The communities of the Guajajara ethnic group have been engulfed in flames, affecting some 12,000 people, while authorities fear for the 80 members of the isolated Awa-Guaja tribe.
“This is certainly the biggest fire we have seen in recent years,” Gabriel Zacharias, the fire combat coordinator of Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), told the Guardian.
According to Zacharias, the fire could have been a revenge arson attack against Indigenous groups, or started by loggers to clear the way, and spiralled out of control.
Video shows shocking burning of Amazon rainforest https://t.co/fUlLSTQT5J #greenpeace #climatechange #rainforest
— F Stop Press Ltd (@fstoppress)
October 25, 2015
“It was shocking to note the enormous scale of the destruction and realise that the Guajajara and Awa-Guajá are the main victims of this tragedy,” said Danicley de Aguiar, of Greenpeace’s Amazon campaign.
“In addition to the elimination of fire, the main concern is to ensure the survival of these people. Many areas were destroyed which means hunting will be more difficult, so the Indians will have serious difficulties to get food. Once the fire is controlled, it will be necessary for the government to closely monitor the situation.”
Greenpeace and Indigenous leader of the Guajajara are appealing to the Brazilian government to allocate greater resources to the inferno, with a protest earlier this month outside government offices.
Until recently, a team of 30 Indigenous firefighters were working day and night without the backup they needed.
Brazil's southeastern states have also been suffering from extreme drought conditions this year, which put Sao Paulo – the country's second largest city – on evacuation watch back in February and forced several cities in the region to cancel carnival festivities due to low water reserves.
Experts have associated Brazil's worsening water crisis with both climate change and deforestation in the Amazon – two issues that drastically reduce the release of billions of liters of water into the atmosphere by rain forest trees, reducing rainfall in the south.
Below: Severe Drought in Brazilian Amazon Leaves Boats High and Dry
