Cattle raising means wildfires: cities with highest numbers of cattle suffered most with fires

Brasil de Fato

From January to September this year, one million hectares were hit by fires in São Félix do Xingu, in Para, northern Brazil, making the municipality first among those with the most fires in 2024. In second place is Corumbá, in Mato Grosso do Sul, with 741,000 hectares set on fire. The data comes from the Monitor do Fogo platform, a partnership between Mapbiomas and the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM, in Portuguese). In Brazil, fires consumed an area the size of the state of Roraima between January and December this year, representing a 150% increase compared to 2023.

In addition to the fires, the two municipalities share another statistic. They are home to the country’s largest cattle herds. In Corumbá, which is home to around 96,000 people, there are 1.9 million head of cattle, which is 20 per inhabitant. In São Félix do Xingu, there are more than 2.5 million head of cattle, around 38 per person, considering its population of 65,000 residents. 

The use of fire is common in agricultural practices, as explained by Ane Alencar, Ipam’s Science Director and coordinator of Mapbiomas Fogo. “And the use of fire as a farming practice in a very dry year means that the potential for this fire to get out of control is huge. That’s what happened,” she says. 

In September, agents from the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Resources (IBAMA, in Portuguese) fined two farmers accused of setting fire to an area of approximately 333,000 hectares in Corumbá. The burned area is twice the size of the city of São Paulo and the fine was US$8,8 million for Ademir Aparecido de Jesus and the same for Luiz Gustavo Battaglin Maciel. 

On Thursday (10), the Federal Police launched Operation Arraial São João to investigate the occurrence of human-caused wildfires in the municipality. During the investigations, data revealed that the burned area is a repeated target of this type of environmental crime and land grabbing with fraudulent claims to government agencies.

Different biomes

In São Félix do Xingu, in the Amazon biome, almost 25% of the territory is pasture. Fire, however, is advancing into native forests. By 2024, 50% of the burned area in the municipality will be forests. In second place are pastures, which account for 38% of the fires recorded in the municipality between January and September this year. São Félix do Xingu is on the list of municipalities with high deforestation rates in the Amazon, according to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

Regarding Corumbá, the municipality that lost the most surface water in 2023, most of the flames consumed wetland areas. With the Pantanal’s historic drought, these regions have become more flammable. 

Alencar points out that human action fuels a cycle of droughts and fires. “The fire started with human action and spread, but because of a condition brought about by the climate.” Drought, in turn, is aggravated by fires and deforestation.