In 2023, for the first time, deforestation in the Cerrado surpassed that of the Amazon. By September of that year, fire had consumed more than 8 million hectares in the biome. This figure is higher than those of the Amazon and Pantanal combined.
In Tocantins, the fire affected an indigenous school, a church, the electricity grid and the water tank of the Krahô Kanela people in the village of Catàmjê.
On Bananal Island, which is home to these and other indigenous peoples, agriculture is strong. The ranchers’ irrigation project dries up the rivers, leaving mere sandbanks. “From August to November, there’s nothing but grass,” said Wagner Catamy Krahô Kanela, village Chief.
In light of these fires, CESE spoke to the Agri is Fire Coalition (Articulação Agro é Fogo) about providing emergency support to the most affected communities in the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal.
The proposal included support for the purchase of food/staple food baskets, drinking water, fire-fighting PPE, seedlings and/or other items. In the Cerrado, the partnership included local coordination by the Indigenous Missionary Council (Conselho Indigenista Missionário: CIMI-GOTO).