Areas affected by fires become less humid and springs are expected to produce less water that would reach rivers in the coming years
Areas of forests and mountains in Roraima are being affected by megafires - fires of large proportions, with large kilometers and with economic, environmental and social impacts, including public health. The situation can be considered an ongoing environmental disaster and its consequences could alter ecosystems in the state with humid forests becoming increasingly dry and even harming the survival of fauna.
According to Haron water springs in Roraima.
Xaud explains that environmental services are increasingly negatively impacted: biodiversity, soil protection, water generation, etc. “The mountains of Roraima, especially those with forest vegetation cover, have many water sources that depend on the vegetation being healthy and preserved. If you have an intense degenerative change in vegetation, for the same amount of rain that falls, you will have changes in the capture capacity, infiltration, speed of water passage through the affected river basins”.
According to the expert, the expected consequence is that the state will suffer from more intense water crises in shorter periods, with more intense extremes both during floods and droughts.
“The continuous degradation of vegetation cover, especially in steeper reliefs, tends to further increase soil erosion, mobilizing sediments into tributary rivers and the large rivers of Roraima, which will also increase these periods of floods and drought, and the medium and long-term results will be seen in the various rivers, including the Branco River”, he summarizes.
Roraima faces a severe drought, intensified by El Niño, and the Rio Branco, its main source of drinking water, reached a negative level of -0,39m, approaching the lowest point in its history. According to the Roraima Water and Sewage Company (Caer), the situation compromises the supply of the capital, Boa Vista, by 30%, while in Mucajaí the service compromise already reaches 70%.
In his doctoral research at the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), Xaud analyzed 50 plots in forest areas in Roraima. From 1997 to 2010, he monitored the number of fires and how they changed monitored areas, considering five scenarios: forests not hit by fire, hit once with low impact, hit once with high impact, hit twice and hit three times. Read the work here.
“There is a progression of degradation the greater the recurrence. I observed an increase in certain plant species that typically occur in secondary forests, which are not common for conserved forests. As there is a fire, biodiversity begins to change and there is a greater occurrence of individuals that are considered to be from disturbed forests”, he explains about the changes.
Still according to Xaud, the species that occupy the spaces after the fire can be called pioneers. They have important functions in the recovery of ecosystems as they allow the original vegetation of these areas, which depends on more shade and humidity, called climax species, to gradually return.
However, the more affected by fire, the more the forests change, as they lose biomass and height, so the direct sun and winds enter more and leave the place hotter and drier, which in turn, makes the areas less suitable for species that are common in humid environments and more suitable for pioneers, such as embaúba.
“It changes the entire biodiversity, the entire composition of the forest. Species that were typical are replaced by others. The high biodiversity of tropical forests is simplified, reduced, showing greater homogenization of species in areas heavily impacted by fires”, says Xaud.
The expert explains that with all these changes, the volume of wood from species of greater economic value is also lost and there is a large emission of carbon into the atmosphere. Furthermore, with each new event, the area becomes more vulnerable to new fires.
“Some invasive creeping species, such as grasses, begin to take over the undergrowth and are more likely to burn, faster and more intensely. In this way, the entire forest becomes progressively more vulnerable to fire”, details.
Not only is the vegetation impacted, but also the fauna. According to the researcher, other research in the Amazon reveals that from invertebrates to large mammals, they are all affected in different ways. In general, the closer they are to the top of the food chain, the more harmed by the situation the animal species is, with a tendency to have difficulties feeding and reproducing.
Megafires and hunger in the Yanomami Indigenous Land
Roraima accumulates 3.973 hot spots in 2024. The State is the national leader with an accumulation of 28.3% of the country's total hot spots. In February, there was a historic record of 2.057. In March, 1.312 were registered and in January, 604.
The capital Boa Vista reached a level of air pollution considered dangerous this Sunday (24), according to the Gaia air quality monitor. The level of PM2,5 particles - one of the most harmful air pollutants - reached 414. According to Xaud, it is the worst index ever recorded in the history of Boa Vista.
According to Ciro Campos, an analyst at the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) in Roraima, it is still too early to compare the situation with the 1998 megafire, which was an unprecedented environmental tragedy. However, he believes that the problem could still increase significantly if the drought continues throughout the month of April.
"The way the vegetation is dry and the winds are strong, if it doesn't rain soon, we could once again have a disaster scenario in Roraima", he warns.
Two National Forests (Flonas) in the state, Anauá and Roraima, are suffering from megafires, and the fire is also approaching Flona Parima. Flona Roraima started burning on February 05th and in about a month the fire reached 30 km from north to south and 13 km from east to west. While Flona Anauá started a fire on March 04th and in about a week there was 14 to 15 km of burned area in north to south orientation.
“What characterizes a megafire is a series of things, such as economic impact, environmental impacts, the size of the fire area, the importance of the burned areas and the populations that are affected. There are several analysis factors to be able to say that we are facing megafires. They have damage that is irreversible”, especially if there is a recurrence in the coming years, explains Xaud.
Hutukara Yanomami Association denounces impacts of drought on Yanomami Indigenous Land:
In the Yanomami Indigenous Land, one of the major fire fronts began on February 09th close to the burned areas in Flona Roraima and expanded rapidly in all directions, reaching in the first 30 days approximately 32 km in length in the north-south direction and about 17 km in an East-West direction. The fire fronts of Flona Roraima and TI Yanomami in this region ended up meeting and remain active to date.
According to Xaud's monitoring, another important affected area in the Yanomami Indigenous Land is in the Catrimani Mission region, which began to burn later, but remains active to date.
The Hutukara Yanomami (HAY) and Wanasseduume Ye'kwana (Seduume) associations sent a letter warning of food insecurity caused by fire in three regions to the authorities on March 19. According to the document, fires continue to destroy fields and the few plantations that remain end up attacked by pests.
Two regions had already reported problems caused by fire in February through the Monitoring system of the Yanomami Indigenous Land. This month, residents of Apiaú used the tool to request basic food baskets, as the loss of their fields resulted in a state of scarcity and hunger in the region.
In Waikás, communities tried to stop the fire without success and four fields were destroyed. The flames also hit a three-year-old cocoa plantation, which is part of a project to sell beans for cocoa production. Yanomami Chocolate, resulting to the detriment of the region's economy.
The Mission Catrimani region suffers from one of the most critical situations: almost all the fields were destroyed, two more houses were burned in March and the remaining plantations are suffering from caterpillar attacks.
For Estêvão Benfica Senra, geographer and analyst at ISA, fire management for pasture renewal is directly linked to the flames that hit the Yanomami territory. He also states that human action with fire is also used to expand pasture in these areas.
“There is a greater concentration of hot spots in the settlement areas and in the forest-lavrado transition zone, where the eastern limit of the Yanomami Indigenous Land is. Apiaú, for example, is in an area of expansion of the agricultural frontier, where fire is used to renew pastures, clear land and land grabbing,” he says.
He says that the region has already suffered from fires several times and the fire is repeated every time El Niño manifests itself. The situation impoverishes the vegetation with each new fire and becomes more susceptible to burning uncontrollably during cleaning attempts.
“The occupation of forest areas for agricultural use, on the edge of indigenous land, has increased greatly since the mega-fire of 1998, as has deforestation and the use of fire to create fields and pastures. This scenario of disorderly expansion of the agricultural frontier, combined with an extreme drought, created the conditions for the emergence of fires along a strip of hundreds of kilometers, which are difficult to control and have unpredictable consequences.”, adds Ciro Campos.
ISA supports organizations in the Yanomami Indigenous Land with monitoring hot spots and qualifying territorial information on the impacts of fires on communities, in addition to donating food and various materials (hammocks, clothes, pans, agricultural tools, etc. .) for affected families in the Middle Catrimani and Apiaú regions.
Serra Grande and reforestation
With an approximate distance of 60 km from the capital Boa Vista, Serra Grande is one of the main ecotourism spots in Roraima. Located in the municipality of Cantá, this mountain is 850m high and its scenery mixes the Amazon forest with the Roraima farmlands in nearby areas. However, the diversity that enchants tourists is threatened with profound change due to the fire.
“Serra Grande itself is not the first time it has been on fire, it has already set fire to other parts and in this history that we see today, of it being set on fire on all sides in an increasing manner, the change will be greater. If we have repeatedly burned areas in the mountains, which have not been mapped in detail, this will have all the impacts already mentioned on the flora, fauna and springs, in addition to the imminent effect of falling trees, which will be more vulnerable to erosion and destruction of structures. slopes during rainy periods”, explains Xaud.
According to the researcher, the current situation will require strong mobilization in forest restoration in order to recover the plant complexity of Serra Grande and other mountains. “This is a crucial point. The fire as it is today will require institutions to undertake an intense program to restore these areas quickly, otherwise they will not be able to recover.”
Seed Network in Roraima
ISA implemented the Seed Network initiative in Roraima this year. The objective of the project is to collect various types of native seeds, make a muvuca (seed mixture) and promote ecological restoration in degraded areas.
According to Emerson da Silva Cadete, biologist and technician responsible for the Seed Network in the state, the people of the Serra da Lua Indigenous Land should be the first partners for collections. Initially, the muvuca will be used to reforest areas indicated by the indigenous people themselves in the territory.
“We are in the process of helping communities that participate in this process due to the fires. If you burn the entire forest there are no seeds and if there are no seeds, there is no restoration”, says Cadete.
To support indigenous communities in the Serra da Lua Region in combating forest fires and drought, ISA makes donations of food, fuel and tools (backpack pumps, roof racks, gloves, protective glasses, leggings, among others).
The next steps of the Seed Network in Roraima involve dialogue with federal and state governments, city halls, farmers and ranchers for ecological restoration in other areas affected by the fire, such as Serra Grande, or that have suffered from other types of degradation in the State .
“We will look for buyers, who can be people from the government, to achieve the objective of restoring protected areas and legal reserves. We will also do this with lot owners, rural producers and farm owners, as they are obliged by law to restore if they exceed legal reserve areas.
Cadete explains that the difference between the Seed Network and other forms of restoration is the simplification of the process, as there is less work required, such as soil preparation, but seed dispersion is easier. Furthermore, the project generates income for collecting communities who sell the seeds to other actors who need to carry out restoration.
For Xaud, combining all institutions and their knowledge about the impacts of forest fires in Roraima, as well as their prevention and control, in conjunction with the actions of seed networks and forest restoration programs, will be of utmost importance for all dimensions of conservation and development actions in the state of Roraima, since in all productive activities and quality of life of the populations, natural resources and, in particular, water, will only remain available at current levels both in the environment and for our use, if there is effective control of these major environmental disasters, which are increasingly intense and frequent.