MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil has 96% of Pantanal fires under control

“We have to keep our teams moving,” Silva insisted

Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva said Tuesday that at least 96% of the fires in the Pantanal, Pantanal, a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area and the world's largest flooded grasslands, had been put out or were under control, Agencia Brasil reported. She made the announcement alongside fellow Ministers Simone Tebet (Budget and Planning) and Waldez Góes (Integration and Regional Development) in Corumbá, in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul.

“This is a moment that we can celebrate, but we have to keep our teams moving. Right now we have 56% of a total of 55 fires extinguished and we are in the process of controlling 40% and fighting 4%,” Silva underlined.

“We know that, as of [next] weekend, there will be a heat wave, with low relative humidity, so there is a risk of new fires, so the Fire Department, Ibama, ICMBio, we have to stay mobilized to save the Pantanal, save our biodiversity and our economic systems that are being collapsed by the climate emergency,” she added.

The ministers visited the region together with Governor Eduardo Riedel, talked to firefighters and supervised the joint relief operations by federal, state and municipal operatives.

After Tebet and Silva first visited the region on June 28, the Planning Ministry released substantial extra funding for Pantanal works. A change in the rules for hiring firefighters was also approved.

Tebet reaffirmed President Lula's determination to guarantee the necessary resources for the fight against climate emergencies and also the federal government's commitment to the environment and sustainability issue. “I want to say that we haven't been late. The joint preventive work between the federal and state governments in relation to the Pantanal began in September last year,” she stressed.

The minister also highlighted the additional funding for fire fighting and prevention which showcased the different governments' unity regarding public policies.

“Without the work of the people in power, we wouldn't have the results we have,” Silva pointed out. Shealso recalled that the federal government's firefighting work did not begin this year but “on Jan. 23, 2023, when we resumed the Permanent Interministerial Commission to Control and Combat Deforestation.”

Góes also stressed the importance of integrated planning and the joint task force of the three levels of government in the good results obtained in the region. “It's a path to follow”, he said.

Governor Riedel also commemorated the results achieved and attributed the control of ice in the Pantanal region to the joint work of the federal, state and municipal governments. “We're not going to demobilize. We have the months of August and September ahead of us,” he said, adding that it was planning and working in partnership that prevented what could have been an even greater tragedy than that of 2020, given the water shortages of 2024. “We avoided this situation with unity, solidarity, integration and the ability to work together.”