de Miranda Cavalcante, Aline Freire

de Oliveira, Mariana Senra

Rosa Machado, Luciana de Oliveira

Steil, Lara

English

Portal de Revistas do ICMBio (Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade)

Prevention, Control and Monitoring of Fires 107 
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade Biodiversidade Brasileira, 10(1): 107, 2020 
 
 
Prevention, Control and Monitoring of Fires in the Brazilian Cerrado 
 
 
Lara Steil1*, Luciana de Oliveira Rosa Machado2, Mariana Senra de Oliveira1, Aline Freire de Miranda 
Cavalcante1 
 
 
1Brazilian National Center for Prevention and Fighting Fires (Prevfogo) – Brazilian Institute for 
Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), Brasilia, Brazil 
2Brazilian Ministry of Environment (MMA), Brasilia, Brazil 
＊Contact email:: lara.steil@ibama.gov.br 
 
 
 
 
 
ABSTRACT – The Brazilian Cerrado covers 24% of the national territory. It is home of 
a diversity of phytophysiognomies that shelters about 5% of the world’s biodiversity. The 
Cerrado is an ecosystem that have been shaped by a long history of fire, caused by 
lightning or human ignition. The people who lived and still live there have used fire for 
thousands of years influencing the ecosystem. In the scenario of climate change and land-
use change that modify the fire regime, leading to increase intense degradation processes, 
the Brazilian government has been supporting initiatives for conservation and sustainable 
use of the biome. In 2011, the implementation of the Brazil-Germany Cooperation Project 
for prevention, control and monitoring of fire in the Cerrado, called as Cerrado-Jalapão 
Project, began. Federal and state government agencies and the local communities were 
involved in the project. The focus of Prevfogo/Ibama in the project was the indigenous 
lands in the states of Tocantins and Mato Grosso. The activities included (1) acquisition 
of equipment and vehicles adapted for fighting fire operations; (2) environmental 
education processes; (3) training and implementation of the integrated fire management 
(IFM) approach. As results of the project: the response capacity of Prevfogo to fire events 
was improved; a better efficiency and effectiveness of the brigades were achieved; a 
closer cooperation with the local communities was developed, increasing the local 
capacity for fire management. Three indigenous lands were initially pilot areas for the 
IFM approach. Nowadays, IFM is applied in 26 indigenous lands, including 43 ethnic 
groups and an area of circa 10 million hectares with preventive and protective actions 
against fire damages. The Cerrado-Jalapão Project has also made a very valuable 
contribution to the paradigm shift underway in the country: from a zero-fire policy to a 
policy considering fire as a management tool. A bill that institutes the National Policy for 
Integrated Fire Management (bill number 11.276/2018) is under way in the National 
Congress. The document highlights the potential contribution of international cooperation 
in the improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of national strategies. 
 
Keywords: Cerrado, savannah, integrated fire management, indigenous land, public 
policies. 


Prevention, Control and Monitoring of Fires in the Brazilian Cerrado

https://www.icmbio.gov.br/revistaeletronica/index.php/BioBR/article/download/1605/1120

Prevention, Control and Monitoring of Fires in the Brazilian Cerrado

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