EMPOWERING LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO FIGHT FIRES IN THE BRAZILIANPANTANAL – PROGRESS REPORT
Arnaud L.J. Desbiez1, Ph.D and Patricia Medici2 Ph.D
1
2

Wild Animal Conservation Institute Brazil – ICAS. Brazilian NGO
Institute for Ecological Research – IPE. Brazilian NGO

Executive summary
The Brazilian Pantanal suffered immense wildfires in 2020, affecting almost a third of the biome.
The Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative and the Giant Armadillo Conservation joined forces tohelp fundraise for urgent mitigation purposes in 2020, but also collaborated to create long term
preventive measures through the creation of community-based fire brigades.
To help mitigate urgent impacts of the fires and rescue efforts materials and supplies which werepurchased by our teams and then hand delivered in both the North and South of the Pantanal.
Firefighting gear and equipment was donated to our partner ECOA an NGO that has been key infighting the fires. Furthermore, 50 Bushnell camera traps, batteries and disks were purchased anddeployed by a our partner SESC Pantanal to monitor animals in fully burnt area that were receiving
supplementary feeding. Finally, a WhatsApp group, coordinated by Patricia Medici, to rescue, careand release tapirs injured by the fires was created and continued well into 2021.
To prevent catastrophic wildfires community-based fire brigades were created in the Nhecolândia
region of the Pantanal. The community fire brigade is organized in such a way that key large
equipment including a 5,000-liter portable water tank and motor pumps are kept at the Baia das
Pedras ranch and can be transported in an emergency to the neighboring ranches. Each of theranches was then provided with both firefighting equipment and tools as well as personal
firefighting equipment (enough for 3-7 people depending on the size of the ranch). Traditionallyranches have helped each other combat fires and will continue to do so. 42 people from sevenranches participated in two sessions of two days training provided by the IBAMA PrevFogo.
Thanks to this effort 1,000 Km2 of Pantanal is protected for the future.
In 2021, the drought persisted, more wildfires broke out. Due to climate and landscape changes
out of control fires are expected to become a new reality for the Pantanal. We plan to extend the
Nhecolândia fire brigades. A neighboring ranch already agreed to host a training to improve skillsof the community and also bring in new ranches and neighbors. We hope this effort will spread to
new ranches throughout the region. Please contact us if you are interested in contributing to thiseffort.

About the Pantanal
The Pantanal is a vast and well-preserved tropical wetland that is shared between Brazil (140,000km2 ), Bolivia (15,000 km2 ), and Paraguay (5000 km2 ). Besides sheltering the highest numberof mammal species per square kilometer in South America, the Pantanal is recognized for having
large healthy populations of the species it harbors. In fact, some of the largest densities of rare andendangered species occur in the Pantanal such as jaguars, giant otters, hyacinth macaws, amongst
others. The highest giant armadillo population density ever recorded was documented in the
Pantanal. The Pantanal is recognized as a National Heritage site by the Brazilian constitution of
1988, as an area of international importance by the Ramsar convention and, in 2000, was declared
as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, enabling the coupling of biodiversity conservation andsustainable development.
The pristine landscape of the Pantanal is composed by a naturally fragmented mosaic with ponds
surrounded by native grassland vegetation, savanna and large woodland areas. The region presents
a particular socioeconomic context, as only 2.5% of the Pantanal’s territory is formally protected
and most land is privately owned and used for traditional extensive cattle ranching. Therefore, any
hope to safeguard the Pantanal must be done with participation and engagement of the local
landowners. Under traditional extensive cattle ranching, cattle are raised in natural grassland andwoodlands are preserved. Hence, anthropogenic threats were generally low (with limited habitat
loss, limited hunting, and no paved roads) and the natural landscape heterogeneity was maintained
benefiting both wildlife and cattle. Unfortunately, due to cultural and economic changes, there
have been increasing changes which threaten the harmonious 250-year-old cattle
ranching/biodiversity conservation equilibrium.

The 2020 mega-fires
The Brazilian Pantanal suffered immense wildfires in 2020, affecting 40,000 km 2, almost a thirdof the biome (Libonati et al., 2020), an area comparable to the size of Switzerland. Wildfire is an
essential feature in many ecosystems across the planet, particularly in savannah wetlands, such as
the Pantanal. However, Garcia, et. al., (2021) estimated an unprecedented 376% increase inwildfires, compared to the annual averages from the last two decades. Worst of all 43% of the area
burnt in 2020 had not been burnt previously and affected ecosystems that had been acting as fire
for wildlife refuges during past events.
One of the potential factors responsible for this increase was the severe drought. In 2020, a
persistent extreme drought over the Pantanal, induced a wet season with 60% less rain than normal(Marengo et al., 2021). This pattern is expected to become more frequent in the future due toclimate change, which may amplify the susceptibility of the biome to fires (Thielen et al., 2020).
The 2020 drought is considered to be the most prolonged and most severe in the last 60 years(SPEI - Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index, 2020). Furthermore, the location offires in remote areas made access extremely challenging. Successive and constant cuts in the Forest
Fire Prevention and Control program of ICMBio, insufficient fire prevention strategy, aggravate
the already challenging situation (Libonati et al., 2020; Garcia et. al., 2021). Recent landscapechanges have also promoted the use of fire the border between lowlands and highlands in the Upper
Paraguay River has been identified as a new “arc of deforestation”, with a projected vegetation
loss of up to 14,005 km2 until 2050 (Guerra et al., 2020). Comparing the first six months of 2019and 2020, total vegetation loss has doubled in the Pantanal, as detected by MapBiomas Alerta(2020). Deforestation in the southern Amazon and less humidity arriving to the Pantanal region
also creates conditions for immense wildfires in the region (Bergier et al., 2018). Climate and land
use change from the Amazon, neighboring Cerrado and in the Pantanal itself will further increase
the frequency of these extreme events (Garcia et.al., 2021).
Patricia Medici, founder and coordinator of the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative, and Arnaud
Desbiez founder of the Giant Armadillo Conservation Program and Anteaters & Highways Project
have joined forces to help fundraise for urgent mitigation purposes in 2020, but have alsocollaborated to create long term preventive measures to prevent catastrophic fires in their study
area in the future.
Bergier, I., Assine, M.L., McGlue, M.M., Alho, C.J.R., Silva, A., Guerreiro, R.L., Carvalho, J.C.,
2018. Amazon rainforest modulation of water security in the Pantanal wetland. Sci. Total Environ.
619, 1116–1125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. scitotenv.2017.11.163.
Garcia, L. C., Szabo, J. K., de Oliveira Roque, F., Pereira, A. D. M. M., da Cunha, C. N.,
Damasceno-Júnior, G. A., ... & Ribeiro, D. B. (2021). Record-breaking wildfires in the world's
largest continuous tropical wetland: Integrative fire management is urgently needed for bothbiodiversity and humans. Journal of environmental management, 293, 112870.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112870
Guerra, A., Roque, F.O., Garcia, L.C., Ochoa-Quintero, J.M., Sanches de Oliveira, P.T., Dettogni
Guariento, R., Rosa, I.M.D., 2020. Drivers and projections of vegetation loss in the Pantanal andsurrounding
ecosystems.
Land
Use
Pol.
91,
104388.
https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104388.
Libonati, R., Sander, L.A., Peres, L.F., DaCamara, C.C., Garcia, L.C., 2020. Rescue Brazil’s
burning Pantanal wetlands. Nature 588, 217–220. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586- 020-03464-1.
MapBiomas Alerta, 2020. https://plataforma.alerta.mapbiomas.org/mapa.
Marengo, J.A., Cunha, A.P., Cuartas, L.A., Leal, K.R.D., Broedel, E., Seluchi, M.E., Michelin,
C.M., Baiao, ˜ C.F.P., Angulo, ˆ E.C., Almeida, E.K., Kazmierczak, M.L., Mateus, N.P.A., Silva,

R.C., Bender, F., 2021. Extreme drought in the Brazilian pantanal in 2019-2020: characterization,
causes, and impacts. Front. Water 3, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2021.639204.
PEI, 2020. Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index go.nature.com/ 2jpdubc.
Thielen, D., Schuchmann, K.-L., Ramoni-Perazzi, P., Marquez, M., Rojas, W., Quintero, J. I.,
Marques, M.I., 2020. Quo vadis Pantanal? Expected precipitation extremes and drought dynamics
fromchangingsea
surfacetemperature.
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227437.

IPE-ICAS short term strategy
Last year during the fires our NGOs actively tried to help mitigate urgent impacts of the fires andrescue efforts through several emergency initiatives
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During the fires rescue teams have been finding and rescuing burned animals that werethen brought to local universities and rescue centers in both Northern and Southern
Pantanal. Patricia constantly liaised with the coordinators of the different centers to update
lists of materials and supplies which were purchased by our teams and then hand deliveredin both the North and South of the Pantanal.
Funds were raised to purchase firefighting gear including protective equipment for
firefighters (such as fire-resistant boots, pants, shirts, gloves, and balaclavas, as well as
helmets, and special glasses for eye protection) and water pumps, fire hoses, shovels,chainsaws, air blowers, brush cutters etc. All the equipment was donated to our partner
ECOA an NGO that has been key in fighting the fires.
We purchased 50 Bushnell camera traps, batteries and disks to monitor animals in fully
burnt area that were receiving supplementary feeding.
Tapir rescue. Patricia created and coordinated a whatsapp group to rescue, care and releasetapirs injured by the fires. This effort continued well into 2021. As for the anteaters, noknown anteater rescued from the fires survived their ordeal.

IPE-ICAS long term strategy
Background - For over 16 years the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative (LTCI) and for 11 years
the Giant Armadillo Pantanal Project have been working in an area of over 450 km 2 surrounding
the Baia das Pedras ranch in the Nhecolândia region of the Pantanal. In 2020 the area managed to
avoid catastrophic wildfires as the local ranches where constantly on high alert and put out naturaland accidental fires. However, in 2019 the same area experienced out of control fires where over

15% of our study area was burnt. During these fires, our teams observed the communities fightfires as best they could with very little equipment. Both climate and land use change will further
increase the frequency of these extreme events. Fires can start far away and reach our study area
in less than 24 hours as it happened in 2019. How can we prevent this?
We discussed and listened to the landowners of Baia das Pedras to understand what we accomplish
and create together to prevent catastrophic wildfires. It was from these discussions that the idea ofa community firefighting brigade was born. This would not protect only protect the study area,
most importantly, it would help engage other landowners in the region to have discussions about
fires, find a common solution and recognize this threat. Fire is a key management tool used in theregion to re-generate pasture. These controlled fires are usually started at the beginning of the wet
season where the natural humidity also helps control the fires. However out of control wildfires,
started in the dry season, as it happened in 2020, are catastrophic for both wildlife as well as for
cattle. Loss of pasture means cattle starve, loss fences and infrastructure can also be very
detrimental to owners.
Creating the brigade – To create the brigade we talked to many partners and also examine othervolunteer fire brigades in Brasil. The government program responsible for fighting fires IBAMA
Prevfogo was extremely patient and generous with their advice and time. They were instrumental
in providing the key list of equipment needed to be purchased. They also agreed to provide thetraining.
The community fire brigade is organized in such a way that key large equipment including a 5,000liter portable water tank and motor pumps are kept at the Baia das Pedras ranch and can betransported in an emergency to the neighboring ranches. The owners of the Baia das Pedras ranchsuggested and agreed to this. Each of the ranches was then provided with both firefighting
equipment and tools as well as personal firefighting equipment ( enough for 3-7 people dependingon the size of the ranch). Firefighting is a community affair. Traditionally ranches have helped
each other combat fires and will of course continue to do so.
Central equipment based at the Baía das Pedras ranch (to be shared)

Firefighting portable water tank - mepel 5000 litros (x1)
Water pump motobomba mini-striker water pump (x1)
Accessories (hoses, connectors etc...) (1)Equipment for each of the 10 each ranch
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Fire burner for controlled fires - guarany - 5 litros (x1)
Chainsaw - stihl - 260 sabre 40cm rollomat (x1)
Portable blower - stihl - br 600 (x1)
Portable blade cutter - stihl - fs380 3 facas 2kw 40,2cc (x1)Light sickle - tramontina - 1,20m c (x2)Large hoe - tramontina - 2,5 1,5m goiv/canav (x2)

Equipment for each ranch/firefighting kits for a team of three to seven people. ( depending on
size od ranch) a total of 50 kits where created.
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Flexible backback fire resistant 21 liters
Fire fighting reflective overalls
Fire fighting helmet with reflective thermoplastic
Balaclava hood
Fire fighting boots
Protective glasses Protective gloves Water bottle - ntk
Belt for water bottle Leather anti snake velcro leg

In all we purchased over 753 pieces of equipment ranging from protective gloves to a 5,000 L
water tank. Firefighting kits where individually packed so that each bag contained everything a
potential fire fighter would need.
The Baia das Pedras ranch hosted the events gathering all the neighboring ranches to distributematerials. Experienced fighter fighters taught landowners and workers how to use, store andupkeep the equipment.

The brigade is born
Due to the pandemic, training was initially postponed by a month and two training events (27-28
of July/29-30 of July) instead of one were held at the Baia das Pedras. We therefore managed toreduce the number of people to increase bio-security. Two groups of 20-30 people were trained
outdoors, even the theory part was done outdoors (despite the cold front that moved in that week).
Both ranch owners and ranch workers participated. Two firefighters from the IBAMA Prevfogo
program gave the training. The IBAMA Prevfogo teachers were remarkable at adapting
vocabulary, examples, and situations to the reality of the Pantanal. Everyone participating wasvery engaged.
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1rst morning: A theoretical class on firefighting took place in a ventilated outdoor barn.
Topics included fire behavior, techniques to control a fire, safety issues and moretheoretical content was presented, illustrated and discussed with the group.
1rst afternoon: Practical training of how to use, store and maintain of the equipment
donated took place outdoors. Everybody got a chance to handle all the equipment.
2nd day: Firefighting Practice. During the second day the group learned how to effectively
fight a fire using all of the equipment provided, including the 5,000 liter water tank. Howto organize the equipment, teams and give orders was explained as various fires were put
out. Everyone had the opportunity to wear all the firefighting clothes and protective gear.

At the end of the second day conversations about the training and participant feedback took place.
Ranch owners participating then signed Memorandum of Understanding guaranteeing the proper
use and care of the materials donated. Once the MoU was signed materials were donated. If theowner of a particular ranch was not present on the day of training (only workers), we signed the
MoU in Campo Grande and then brought all the equipment to the ranch a week later.
Overall, this project was a huge success on several levelsAll participants were extremely enthusiastic and pleased with the training. This is in mostpart due to the quality and experience of the Prevfogo which was able to provide individual
attention to all participants and share knowledge using clear examples
A brief survey led by our team showed that all participants were extremely satisfied by thetraining and materials donated. All felt confident in their ability to fight fires and use theequipment. Almost all participants had experience in fighting fires, however, none had ever
had access to such materials.
This event created a cultural change. Fire is seen as mostly positive and necessary in the
Pantanal by ranch owners and workers. It has always been a management practice tool.
Uncontrolled wildfires are considered an unfortunate fatality. However, for the first-timeranches and ranch workers were led to differentiate between types of fires. While
recognizing the importance of fire in the Pantaneiro culture they were empowered with theproper tools and training to be able to use and control fires. In the Pantanal in November
and December, owners bring basic food supplies and mineral salts for the cattle for the next
6 months in case there is a major flood and the ranch becomes inaccessible. Now a newroutine of preparing for the fire season needs to take place. Equipment must be tested, oiled
washed and kept ready for the potential upcoming fire season.
A 5 minute video summarizing the two days of the training is provided to all donors of thisinitiative. https://www.dropbox.com/s/3zbnqgr5kv65r85/Legends%20ENG..mp4?dl=0

Next steps
In December we will visit all the participating ranches to get feedback on fires prevented
and check if materials are being properly stored and maintained. The wet season will bewell underway, and all the equipment should be stored until next June at the start of the dry
season.

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Next June 2022 we will visit all the ranches again, to make sure that everyone working in
the trained ranches is ready to combat fires. Equipment must be tested, knowledge on theuse of each tool must be tested. We will share the videos on how to use all the tools to any
new workers. Our projects will now visit all collaborating ranches twice a year.

Videos and images of the event are being shared with the media to inspire other regions of
the Pantanal to take action.

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Next steps were discussed at the end of the training. The Prevfogo will return next year tohear about the experiences of the different ranches but also to invite new neighboringranches to participate. Santa Maria ranch has already agreed to hold such an event. We
hope this becomes an annual event in the Pantanal to ensure that everyone is ready tocombat any potential out of control fires.

How you can help.
IPE-ICAS would like to continue fundraising for funds to mitigate impacts and prevent out ofcontrol wildfires. The current context of climate change and land use (Both here in the Pantanal
and in the Amazon) make it clear that out of control wildfires will continue in the foreseeable
future. We would like to raise more funds to be able to respond to emergency needs as well as
continue our long-term strategy. We want to be able to purchase emergency supplies when needed
to save individual animals and continue purchasing firefighting kits and equipment to expand thecommunity firefighting brigade.
If you are interested in continuing to support us please get in touch with Arnaud Desbiez
contato@icasconservation.org.br or Patricia Medici medici@ipe.org.br