The governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday (27) due to the outbreaks of fires in the state. With the measure, the use of fire for cleaning and management of areas throughout the state territory is prohibited.
The ban will not be applied in cases involving subsistence agriculture of traditional and indigenous populations, phytosanitary control and scientific research with the approval of environmental agencies.
The governor’s decree also provides for criminal, administrative and civil sanctions for those who fail to comply with the determinations, which will be valid for 180 days.
Barbalho based his statement on technical notes issued by the National Center for Monitoring and Alerting of Natural Disasters (Cemaden) and the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability of Pará (Semas). The agencies warned about the lack of rain in Pará and the impacts of the La Niña phenomenon this year, which have favored forest fires.
According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Pará registered 14.7 thousand fire outbreaks in the first eight months of this year.
