Beloved Land
amongst a thousand others
art thou, Brazil,
O beloved homeland!
-- Brazilian National Anthem
Monday, 18 of September
Acre is a region of bountiful rain, as is all of Amazonia. The rains really never stop, even during the so-called dry season – between June and November – only their intensity declines. However this year, 2005, three months have passed since the last rainfall, which fell at the beginning of June. Just as excessive rains result in rivers overflowing their banks and flooding várzeas (low lying plains) and riverside towns, prolonged droughts rapidly drain waterways – the igarapés (marshlands, bayous) don’t permit boat travel and form innumerable pools of water where trapped fish begin to die.
This time, the drought is made worse by an increase of quiemadas (intentional burning of forest and brush) and incêndios (forest fires) both accidental and spontaneous. Everywhere, air is laden with carbon monoxide.
Since yesterday, a dense cloud of smoke covers the capital of Rio Branco.
Tuesday, September 19
The commercial airports of Rio Branco and Cruzeiro do Sul, and all the smaller airports in Acre are closed for takeoffs and landings because of poor visibility. The government considers the situation extremely grave and declares a state of emergency.
Wednesday, September 20
The population of Rio Branco is in the streets. Two thousand people march in protest wearing surgical masks to protect themselves against the brutal pollution. Itamar Zanin, director of the College calls for rapid action by the state and federal governments: “We want to show our anger. Declaring a state of emergency is not enough. I’ve lived in Acre for 27 years and never have I seen the situation so bad!”
What can the government do? Queimadas (the intensional burning brush and forest) had already been temporarily prohibited by decree of a spokesperson from the Public Ministry.
With the state of emergency, arrived a National Civil Defense task force with 120 firefighters, soldiers and the federal police, three helicopters, a plan and 20 specialists from IBAMA.
Thursday, September 21
The situation did not improve at all. It’s 3:00 PM. Maria das Dores, a teacher, already has taken three children to the emergency hospital for respiratory ailments. Now she’s bringing in another five. The reception area is filled with children and elderly. There is a great deal of confusion. Everyone’s nervos à flor da pele (nerves on edge). She’s frightened and the waiting is difficult.
The emergency clinic is taking in 160 people a day only for respiratory problems. Everyone looks anxious and feels powerless.
Friday, September 22
Many schools suspend their classes so that all children can be properly cared for at home.
Stories are running about that in the fazendas (ranches), the fire is burning fields, corrals and killing gado (cattle). In Plácido de Castro and Acrelândia entire banana and coffee plantações (plantations) have been lost.
Yesterday, the teacher Maria das Dores brought back (from the hospital) four of the five children who’ve recovered. Michelle, a six year old, had to remain at hospital. Maria das Dores passed the night at the hospital with her, along with her mother, who arrived later.
Sunday, September 24
The fumaça (smoke cloud) over Rio Branco is only becoming denser. One has the impression that it will become a giant gelatinous mass trapping all of us within it.
And there’s not even a small sign of rain. The Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) (The National Institute for Space Research) revealed that satellites report a record 1,086 fire caused hot-spots in Acre. The regions most critically affected are Xapuri and Brasiléia.
Monday, September 25
The governor of Acre in continuous meeting with science and government officials, seeking to take all possible actions to bring the situation under control.
Michelle left the hospital, her breathing returning to normal.
But there’s a fire in the Reserva Extrativista Chico Mendes (Chico Menes Indigenous Nature Preserve). Just along the road BR-317 which borders the preserve, satellites detected 325 fire caused hot-spots.
The situation appears out of control. The tension is not subsiding and the population appears bordering on panic. The radio insists on depriving people of hopeful news, because there is so little of it. It’s as if all of Acre is becoming a gigantic fogueira (campfire).
A fire has erupted five kilometers from Sena Madureira, in the area of the drug treatment center run by the Fundação Amigos da Amazônia (the Friends of the Amazon Foundation).
Tuesday, September 26
Suddenly, on this Tuesday, rains came to the whole state of Acre! It’s raining! It’s raining! The whole population is breathing a sigh of relief.
October
The strong rains have not stopped, and slowly, life is coming back to normal.
However, the ten dark days in September left their mark on Arce: 200,000 hectares of denuded forests, more than 300,000 hectacres of open lands blackened. It’s the greatest ecological disaster to his the Amazon since March of 1998, when the great fire of Roraima consumed 3.4 million hectares of open forests and lavrados (farmlands).
Understanding Queimadas
If we consider Brazil as a whole, more than 98% of queimadas (intentionally set fires) take place in agricultural regions as a normal part of system of production. The farmer decides when and where to burn, and does so in a controlled manner that’s relatively safe. To simplify work on the farm, he burns leftover chaff, pastureland, and the stalks from sugar cane.
It’s easier to clean an area with fire than collecting it with enxadas (hoes). However farmers justify the use of fire by saying that the ashes fertilize the soil – a claim that’s challenged by scientists. Research of the Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa Florestal (Brazilian Institute for Forest Preservation) shows that fire destroys a good portion of imporant minerals in the soil.
In Amazonia, queimadas are should not be seen in the forest. Years of queimadas would be needed to consume all the material that results from the deforesting of an area. In fact, in Brazil, only 30% of the queimadas occur in the Amazon region.
The great problem are the agricultural queimadas that go out of control, the illegal queimadas and the forest fires that they produce. An incêndio florestal (forest fire) is not only difficult to fight, it’s devastation spreads easily because there it does not run into empty spaces which can serve as aceiros (iron fences or firebreaks).
The damage is enormous. At times, animals are expelled from their habitat or simply die encircled by the fire. Dozens upon dozens of years go by before an area destroyed by fire is able to even partially recover.
Tragedies, like those in Roraima in 1998 and in Acre in 2005, occur despite great efforts to avoid them. Brazil has a state of the art, satellite-based queimada monitoring system, operated by hundreds of technicians whose jobs are devoted exclusively to this task. If not for this, there would be even more frequent fires with even more tragic consequences.
However, the risk of doing this kind of damage – indeed violence – to Nature does not seem to bother farmers and ranchers much, who blithely burn forests thousands of years old to clear land for fields or rangeland for cattle.
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