Webinar brings together experts to discuss Integrated Fire Management as an efficient alternative.
With the arrival of rains in the Brazilian Midwest and the suppression of fires in the Pantanal and Cerrado biomes, it is also time to look more closely at the problem and discuss policies for preventing criminal and unwanted fires that cause significant economic and environmental damage, especially at the height or end of the dry season. On Wednesday, November 25th, the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), with the support of the Environmental Parliamentary Front and in partnership with WWF Brazil, will host a thematic webinar on the National Integrated Fire Management Program (MIF). The event will be broadcast live, starting at 10 am, via [platform name - missing from original text]. Youtube e Facebook.
With the participation of experts in fire ecology, geoprocessing, and environmental management, the event focuses on a still little-known path of prevention, which involves the participation of multiple sectors of society, respect for traditional practices, planning and adaptation, technical and scientific knowledge, education, and mobilization. The objective is to promote engagement, bringing to the population the understanding that controlled burning can be used to reduce the extent of areas burned by arson and the emission of greenhouse gases, as well as increasing dialogue between local communities and environmental managers.
Confirmed speakers include Dr. Isabel Schmidt, from the Department of Ecology at the University of Brasília (UnB); Dr. Renata Libonati, professor in the Department of Meteorology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ); Dr. Warley Rodrigues, Director of Biodiversity and Protected Areas – Tocantins Nature Institute; and Dr. Bráulio Dias, professor at UnB and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. (see interview with Bráulio Dias).
Why talk about fire now?
Lívia Carvalho Moura, technical advisor for the Cerrado and Caatinga Program at ISPN, comments that this is the best time to discuss fire prevention because there is no urgency or mobilization for firefighting, which demands all the resources, both human and financial, to extinguish the flames. “Now with the rains, we can talk about prevention,” she explains. “The period of greatest fire risk is specific. In Brazil, we are used to fires occurring between August and October.”
Geographer and PhD in ecology, Lívia defends MIF (Integrated Fire Management) as the most efficient alternative for preventing unwanted and criminal fires. Little known in Brazil, this traditional and age-old practice involves the prescribed and controlled burning of verified areas, forming "strips and islands" of burned areas that fragment the homogeneity and continuity of the vegetation and prevent the spread of unexpected flames. The advisor emphasizes that the Cerrado and the Pantanal are environments adapted to fire and that the total prohibition of burning ("zero fire policy") has not been effective in preventing fires. See what happened in the Pantanal this year.
“Right now in November, the tragic events of September/October are still fresh in our minds. Look at how many wild animal deaths we had in the Pantanal, in addition to the concern for people's health. It's not an isolated event in one region. The smoke reaches many cities, including major capitals like São Paulo and Brasília. It's important that we have this debate now. Let's think about preventing these catastrophic fires! There are tools to prevent them from happening again,” emphasizes Moura.
Fire to prevent fire
According to the coordinator of the Parliamentary Environmental Front, Deputy Rodrigo Agostinho (PSB/SP), integrated fire management is a complex issue. “Fire can be both beneficial and very harmful, depending on how, where, when, and why it is used. Integrated Fire Management seeks precisely the balance between ecological processes and necessity, focusing on the conservation of biodiversity, climate, and local communities,” he comments. The parliamentarian emphasizes that wildfires and controlled burns are different things and that it is necessary to deepen the debate to focus on solutions.
Bill 11.276/2018, authored by the Executive Branch, which establishes the National Policy for Integrated Fire Management, is currently under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies. The bill awaits the formation of a temporary review committee and stipulates a series of preventative activities that go beyond prescribed burning, also considering educational practices to raise awareness and respect for ancient traditional knowledge.
Need to expand the Program
The MIF (Integrated Fire Management) is a broad strategy that ISPN has been promoting. Lately, the Institute has been studying the possibility of including funding for projects related to fire management, to support interested traditional peoples and communities. Alongside this plan, which is under development, the organization has been defending the MIF through its advocacy actions, with the intention of processing and approving Bill 11.276/2018.
Last year, ISPN participated in the 7th International Conference on Forest Fires in Campo Grande (MS). During the event, it organized the Special Session on Challenges and Opportunities with Savannah Fires (which was attended by more than 200 people), in addition to holding the Technical Workshop to evaluate the five years of implementation of the MIF in Brazil.
Observing the gains and challenges of fire management, experts pointed out the need to expand the policy to a broad national scale and in the states to actually achieve the expected return, with special attention to vacant areas, private areas, and settlements. To date, only a few conservation units and indigenous lands apply the Integrated Fire Management (IFM). The objective of the webinar on the 25th is, therefore, to engage society in the concern about the national fire policy and to introduce more effective alternatives, more respectful of traditional cultures and less costly from an economic point of view.
Webinar – National Policy on Integrated Fire Management
November 25th, Wednesday, at 10 AM (Brasilia time)
Live broadcast on the YouTube and Facebook channels of the Environmental Parliamentary Front.
Produced by: Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN); Parliamentary Environmental Front and WWF Brazil