Fires burned more than 16.3 million hectares in Brazil in 2022

More than 16.3 million hectares, of which 2.8 million were in forests, were burned in Brazil last year, according to data from the Fire Monitor, released today by MapBiomas, a network of organizations that monitor burned areas in the country.

Most of the fires affected native vegetation, with 25.9 percent of savannah formations and 17.1 percent of forests.

The Amazon was the most affected last year. Almost half of the total area burned in the country was in the biome, equivalent to 7.9 million hectares.

Of the total area burned in the Amazon, 70 percent occurred in August, September, and October.

In December 2022, when it is not common for fires to occur in the Amazon, the biome registered the largest burned area in the country, with 234,700 hectares, an increase of 101 percent over the previous month.

Fire is the fastest and cheapest way to clear a deforested area. According to MapBiomas, the higher the deforestation rate, the greater the use of fire. According to MapBiomas, half of the fires in the Amazon occurred in grasslands.

The Cerrado appears as the second most impacted biome, only surpassed by the Amazon. Of all the burned area in the country, 45 percent was in the Cerrado (7.4 million hectares). The amount is equivalent to an 18 percent increase over the previous year.

The Pantanal had the smallest burned area in the last four years: 194,000 hectares. In 2022, the month with the highest record was September, with 64,000 hectares consumed by fire.

The decrease is related, according to MapBiomas, to the rains that alleviated the drought in the biome, despite the last flood in 2018.