The MapBiomas Fire Monitor identified over half a million hectares burned across the country in the first two months of 2023 – 28% less than last year
Brazil lost 536,000 hectares to fire between January and February 2023. This marks a decrease of 213,000 hectares, or 28%, compared to the same period last year. Almost all of this area – 487,000 hectares, or 90% of the total – was in the Amazon. These data are from the MapBiomas Fire Monitor, which tracks the effects of wildfires across the national territory using satellite imagery.
Roraima accounted for 48% of the total burned in all of Brazil during this period: 259,000 hectares. In Roraima, the three municipalities (Pacaraima, Normandia, and Amajari), as well as the three indigenous territories (TI São Marcos, TI Raposa Serra do Sol, and TI Araçá), recorded the highest burning rates in January and February. Mato Grosso and Pará are the other two states with the largest burned area in the bimester, with 90,000 hectares and 71,000 hectares, respectively. Together, these three states represented 79% of the total burned area in Brazil during the first two months of 2023.
"This pattern of burned areas in Roraima may be related to the unique climatic and environmental characteristics of the state," explains Felipe Martenexenn, a researcher at IPAM and responsible for mapping the Amazon. "Roraima is located in the northern hemisphere, while most of the other states are located in the southern hemisphere. Thus, while the dry season in much of the country occurs between May and September, in Roraima, the dry months occur between December and April," he details.
The second biome that burned the most in the first two months of 2023 was the Cerrado. There were 24,000 hectares burned, equally divided between January and February. This number represents a 64% increase compared to the same period in 2022 (or 9,000 ha more).
The states that burned the most in the Cerrado were Mato Grosso (which is also one of the leaders in burned area in the Amazon) and Maranhão. Approximately one-third (32%) of the burned area in the Cerrado during the first two months of 2023 was in savanna formation (7,000 hectares).
In the Atlantic Forest, Pantanal, and Caatinga, the extent burned in January and February was the lowest in the last five years. In the Atlantic Forest, 4,600 hectares were burned, most of which were concentrated in agricultural areas. In the Pantanal, 8,800 hectares were burned, the majority concentrated in grassland formations, with a large burned area in the Pantanal Mato Grosso National Park. In the Caatinga, the burned extent totaled 6,700 hectares. In the Pampa, 4,000 hectares were burned, 70% of which were in grassland formations.
The majority of the burned area across all of Brazil (84%) was in native vegetation, with most of it in grassland formations. Among agricultural uses, pastures stood out, representing 12% of the burned area.
249 mil hectares burned in February.
The analysis of satellite images captured throughout February shows that 249,000 hectares were burned across Brazil – a decrease of 16% (48,000 hectares less) compared to the same month in 2022. The majority (87%) of the burned area during the period was in native vegetation, mainly grassland formations, which accounted for more than half (56%) of the burned area last month. Among agricultural uses, pastures stood out, representing 9% of the burned area in February 2023.
The Amazon concentrated almost all (90%) of the burned area in Brazil in February: 230,000 hectares. More than half (59%) of the burned area in this biome was in grassland formations. Among the various land uses, pastureland accounted for the largest burned area (8%, or 15,000 hectares).
All three states that burned the most during the period belong to the biome: Roraima, Mato Grosso, and Pará. However, the first alone accounted for more than half (57%) of the burned area in Brazil in February: over 141,000 hectares, an extension 19% higher than that mapped in January. Almost all of this territory (98%) consists of grassland formations. Pacaraima (RR), Amajari (RR), and Normandia (RR) were the municipalities with the largest burned areas.
The Conservation Units that top the ranking of burned areas in February 2023 are: Serra da Canastra National Park (MG), Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (GO), both in the Cerrado biome, and Monte Roraima National Park (RR), in the Amazon biome.