Intense wildfires burned through a record-breaking 97% of the Serra das Araras conservation area in Brazil’s megadiverse Cerrado savanna earlier this year, the national parks agency, ICMBio, told Mongabay.
Fire overwhelmed nearly all of the 28,700-hectare (71,000-acre) reserve, an area twice the size of San Francisco. It serves as a refuge to hundreds of species, including jaguars (Panthera onca), maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) and the endangered white-cheeked spider monkey (Ateles marginatus).
Satellite images and data from Global Forest Watch show fires spreading into Serra das Araras in late August 2024 from land burned close to its borders. Fire in the region is often used illegally to clear land for pastures and farms. In September, the flames spread to the rest of the park.
Global Forest Watch alerts also detected deforestation of primary forest, with new roads constructed in the direction of the park.
“No one knows exactly who owns the land where the fires originated from. But with this year’s extreme climate conditions, even a small ignition can impact a huge area,” Marcelo Feitosa, the Serra das Araras head of conservation for the past 12 years, said in a video interview, adding that extreme fire events are becoming more frequent and more intense.
The Cerrado is facing its worst drought in more than 700 years, a recent study found, with record-high temperatures and minimal rainfall worsening the region’s fire risk. Serra das Araras’ 2024 wildfires surpassed its previous fire record in 2020, when 84% of the park burned.
“In the end, we couldn’t hold back the fire. The spread was incredibly fast, with strong winds and severe drought,” Feitosa said, adding that the park’s steep and rocky terrain hampered firefighters’ access. “We’re in an environment that evolved with fire, but if we continue with these frequent, intense fires, it will simplify the ecosystem, reduce biodiversity and eventually entirely alter the landscape.”
Some fire can benefit the park, if controlled to a small area at a time, he said, creating a patchwork of vegetation that supports the Cerrado. The 3% of the park that did not burn was largely in areas where his team carried out controlled burns in July.
“We see fire as always bad, which has colonial origins. Fire as hell,” Feitosa said. “But fire is part of nature, and when you understand that, it becomes easier to manage.”
No formal wildlife assessment has been conducted since the fire, but Feitosa said that from his experience, large animals like jaguars are most likely to escape, while amphibians and reptiles face the highest mortality.
In the month following the wildfires, he observed a quick resurgence of flora in low-lying shrub areas, while forested areas have suffered severe tree mortality. Camera traps are set to be reinstalled to monitor the surviving wildlife.
Banner image: Satellite imagery from Landsat via EarthExplorer and Sentinel-2 via Copernicus shows wildfires in the Serra das Araras conservation area in Brazil’s Cerrado. Image by Mongabay.
