Brazil burned more land than Pernambuco in the first nine months of 2022

In September alone, fires consumed 5,825,520 hectares in Brazil. This area represents 50% of all that was burned in the first nine months of 2022. The data comes from the latest MapBiomas Fire Monitor report. The biome with the largest area burned in September was the Cerrado (2,973,443 hectares burned, 13% more than in the same month of 2021). The Amazon, in turn, was the biome with the greatest increase in the area burned compared to the same month in 2021: 71% (1,080,388 ha more). Compared to August of this year, the increase was 52% in the case of the Amazon and 149% in the Cerrado. 

With these figures, Brazil accumulated a total of 11,749,938 hectares burned between January and September this year - an area larger than the entire state of Pernambuco. A similar area to that affected by fire in the same period of 2021 - an increase of 1%. But behind this apparent stability there are big variations. There was a 40% increase in the area burned in the Amazon (over 1.6 million hectares) and an impressive 1500% in the Pampa (27,317 hectares).   

Almost half of the fires between January and September this year (49%, or 5,797,298 ha) occurred in the Amazon biome. However, the situation in the Cerrado is more worrying. Although it is half the size of the Amazon, it was very close to the Amazonian figures (46%, or 5,408,154 ha). Together, they account for 95% of the area burned in Brazil by September 2022. Almost a third (29%, or 1,698,583 ha) of what was burned in the Amazon affected forests, either fires or deforestation followed by fire. This figure is 106% higher than the area of forest affected by fire in the biome in the same period in 2021 (826,107 ha). 

"It's important to note that this increase in the area of forest fires in the Amazon in 2022 is a very bad indicator for the region, as these forests are not adapted to fire and end up being more susceptible to new fires, becoming degraded," says Ane Alencar, MapBiomas Fire Coordinator and IPAM Science Director. The increase in forest fires in Brazil was 34%, covering around 2 million hectares (1,942,949 ha). Almost all (87%) of these forest fires occurred in the Amazon.

In all biomes, fires occur preferentially in areas of native vegetation in savannah and grassland formations, which accounted for 69% of the area burned in the period in Brazil. Among the types of agricultural use, pastures stood out, accounting for 25% of the area burned in the first nine months of 2022. "The burning pattern of savannah and grassland formations has dominated the burned area statistics in Brazil. This is because these types of vegetation have an associated fire regime. However, we have to be alert because some of this fire is happening with a frequency and intensity that is different from the expected regime for these ecosystems," says MapBiomas Fogo operational coordinator and IPAM researcher Vera Arruda. 

While the Amazon and Pampa saw an increase, the Pantanal showed the smallest area burned in the last four years, with an 83% reduction when comparing the period between January and September 2022 with the previous year.

All the states with the highest number of fires are on agricultural frontiers, with Mato Grosso being the state that burned the most in the first 9 months of 2022, concentrating almost ¼ of what was burned in Brazil in that period. Pará and Tocantins occupy the second and third positions in the ranking. Together, these three states accounted for 57% of the total burnt area affected in the period. But when only the Cerrado biome is considered, the states that burned the most between January and September 2022 are Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Maranhão.

All the municipalities with the highest number of fires are in the Amazon biome - more specifically, in the state of Pará: São Félix do Xingu, Altamira and Novo Progresso. Together, they were responsible for burning 1,052,700 ha, or 9% of the national total. The increase compared to 2021, when these municipalities together burned 407,212 ha, was 158%. If we only consider September 2022, the municipalities of São Félix do Xingu and Altamira remain the ones with the largest burned area. "These figures reflect the advance of deforestation, which has one of its most active frontiers in western Pará," explains Ane Alencar. 

Acesse o boletim mensal com os destaques de Setembro

Figures as of September 2022:

• 5,825,520 hectares burned - an area that represents 50% of what was burned in 2022.
• This figure was 9% higher than in the same month in 2021 (520,553 thousand ha more).
• 71% of the burned area was in native vegetation, most of it in natural formations and forests.
• Among the types of natural formations, savannah formations were the most affected by fire: 32% of the area burned. 
• The biome with the largest burnt area was the Cerrado, with 2,973,443 ha burnt, 13% more than in the same month of 2021.
• The Amazon was the biome with the highest increase in burnt area compared to the same month in 2021, with a 71% increase (1,080,388 ha more).
• The municipalities of São Félix do Xingu and Altamira had the largest areas burned.

About the Fire Monitor:
The Fire Monitor is the monthly mapping of fire scars for Brazil, covering the period from 2019 onwards, and updated monthly. Based on monthly mosaics of Sentinel 2 multispectral images with a spatial resolution of 10 meters and a temporal resolution of 5 days. The Fire Monitor reveals the location and extent of burnt areas in almost real time, making it easier to account for the destruction caused by fire.  Access