Brazil-Fire Destroys 18,000 Hectares of Brazilian Rainforest
Copyright 2001 Financial Times
August 7, 2001
Rio de Janeiro, Aug 7 (EFE).- Firefighters struggled to control a fire Tuesday started by arsonists that has already destroyed some 18,000 hectares (44,444 acres) of tropical rainforest in southwestern Brazil.
According to the Brazilian Environmental Institute (Ibama), the fire destroyed 8,000 hectares (19,753 acres) of the Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park and 10,000 hectares (24,691 acres) of a protective buffer zone surrounding the preserve.
"One of the fires was set by arsonists on the road that runs through the park ... and the other was started in the buffer zone by farmers who use slash and burn techniques," Jaco Kuffner, an Ibama official in Mato Grosso state, told EFE.
The wind and dry conditions caused the fire to rage out of control over the weekend.
"The situation is now under control again, and we hope to put the fire out in the next 72 hours," Kuffner said, noting that the vegetation has been largely destroyed, although every year the savanna usually burns and grows back during the rainy season.
Some 80 firefighters and Ibama workers aided by two helicopters and a plane were working to extinguish the fire Tuesday.
Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park was created in 1989 in Mato Grosso, some 1,100 kilometers (685 miles) southwest of Brasilia.
Some 35 percent of the park's 33,000 hectares (81,481 acres) are publicly owned, while the remainder belongs to some 100 farmers who live inside the park.
The rainforest preserve located in the geographic center of South America is rich in canyons, waterfalls, caves and some 50 fossil and archeological sites containing dinosaur remains and cave paintings.