Fires sweep Brazil nature sanctuary, Indian reservation
Copyright 2001 Kyodo News Service
August 6, 2001
CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil, Aug. 6 Kyodo - Fires have swept through an ecological protection area and an Indian reservation in the western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso by the Amazon rain forest, authorities said Monday.
The flames were first noticed Friday and have consumed some 110 square kilometers of the Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park, 64 km from the state capital Cuiaba.
Firefighters failed to save 30% of the park, which is home to a number of animal species threatened with extinction, according to environmentalists.
The authorities have not confirmed whether the flames have reached the park's archaeological sites, which experts say are of scientific value.
'Our main difficulty is to reach the region because it's pretty hard to move around the area as a consequence of the thick vegetation and the uncertain topography,' the park's manager told local daily Gazeta de Cuiaba.
The Indian reservation of the Bororo community located in the south of the state is also on alert because other fires have started in the region and are getting perilously close to the Indians' huts.
Strong winds have been driving the flames right to the heart of the village, home to some 500 Indians who rely chiefly on farming and fear the fire will destroy their crops.
Fires started at the reservation on Thursday and authorities have said they have already ruined nearly 50% of the 90-sq.-km area.
The federal environmental agency Ibama has dispatched firefighters to both areas, but they had not managed to stop the flames until Monday evening.
The two series of fires started only three days after firefighters finally brought under control a blaze that ravaged over 10% of the 300 sq. km of vegetation that covers the National Park of Itatiaia in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro.
Satellite images generated by the National Institute of Space Research (INPE) have indicated 6,500 fires in the state since the beginning of the year.
Fires have wiped out a 230-sq.-km area in the state of Mato Grosso. One-fourth were caused by farmers who traditionally burn their lands to prepare them for new crops or grazing pastures.
Brazilians are experiencing the worst drought season in 70 years. It has dried up the vegetation so it burns easily, and forced the country to cut energy consumption by 20% because of a sharp reduction in water levels at hydroelectric plants.