Data from the Terrabrasilis platform, from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), which concentrates satellite information on vegetation cover, deforestation and fires, indicates that the country had 1 million fires between 2020 and 2024. In this interval, the year with the highest number of records was precisely 2024, which occurred, according to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), due to an exceptional drought – according to the department, the worst in the last 74 years.
Most of the outbreaks are concentrated in five states. There were 628,365 outbreaks in five years, in Pará (200,685), Mato Grosso (171,534), Amazonas (97,885), Maranhão (97,124) and Tocantins (61,137). Its design, a fire road that cuts through the middle of the country, coincides with areas of agricultural expansion, mainly for soybeans and pasture, and with regions marked by land grabbing and mining. All of these states had an increase in fire outbreaks in the comparison between 2024 and 2023, with emphasis on Mato Grosso, with an increase of 130%, and Tocantins, with an increase of 78%.
What is new, in 2024, is the increase in fires in areas classified as without a Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), that is, areas that are not rural properties. Between 2020 and 2023, this type of registration was at the level of 20% of the total in the five states with the most registrations, in the critical months (August and September), but in 2024 the percentage jumped to 29.2%. There was also an increase in the participation of large properties, from an average of 35% to 40% of registrations.
The increase accelerated governments’ response. At the federal level, the National Policy for Integrated Fire Management was completed, which starts operating in 2025, which, according to the MMA, will guarantee the strengthening of coordination with states and municipalities, a factor considered crucial to achieving faster responses in relation to fires. The policy was created in the midst of the crisis, in July 2024, after the drought hit the Pantanal region hard, and coordinates the action of the Union, states and municipalities, as well as civil society and private organizations.
The ministry informed that R$280 million will be allocated from the Amazon Fund to fight fires in the states, in addition to around R$650 million from the federal budget. The objective is to avoid another “worst year”, as since 2010 there have not been as many outbreaks recorded as in 2024.
Recording a greater number of fires does not necessarily mean a greater burned area. In São Paulo, the state with the highest growth in outbreaks (422%, with 8,712 outbreaks registered in 2024), the increase in burned area was below 2% in conservation areas, and the outbreaks were concentrated in rural properties, especially in cash crops. sugar cane.
Executive director of the Fundação Florestal, Rodrigo Levkovicz manages conservation areas in the state. He follows the entire cycle of preparing and fighting fires, including in the field, and agrees with the reason given by the MMA: fires have increased because weather conditions are more severe than in recent years. For him, who followed the last rounds of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COPs), the expectation is for more severe effects, which demands improvement in planning.
“There is no point in having a good response this year and thinking it will be the same in 2030. We will have to plan year by year, increase [qualidade e velocidade] responses and action with municipalities, the federal government and civil organizations”, he defended. “We are at a time to reevaluate the way we occupy land, rethinking suitable crops for different environments”, added the former state attorney.
The report also contacted the governments of Pará, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Maranhão. Amazonas and Pará did not respond. The report will be updated in case of any response.
The government of Maranhão reported having consolidated an Action Plan for the years 2024 to 2027, in addition to having “reinforced the monitoring of degraded areas, intensified environmental inspections and implemented the investigation of infractions”. MA, focused on forest preservation, recovery of degraded areas and enhancement of ecosystem services. With six main axes, the program encourages sustainable practices by rural producers, traditional communities and other strategic populations, promoting conservation for current and future generations”, he informed, in a note. The state has had 97 thousand outbreaks registered since 2020, but there has been no considerable increase since 2022, when it reached the level of 20 thousand outbreaks.
The government of Mato Grosso informed, also through a note, that it applied “R$ 205.6 million in fines for irregular use of fire”. “During this period, more than 20 people were arrested and 112 indicted by the Civil Police for causing fires .” According to the note, the state went through “the worst drought faced in the last 44 years. As a result, dry organic material accumulated, which facilitated combustion.” Mato Grosso had more than 170 thousand outbreaks registered in the period, of which 50 thousand in 2024 alone.
