Large Fire Strikes Ibitipoca Park in Brazil’s Minas Gerais State

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A major fire has already destroyed an extensive area of Ibitipoca State Park in Lima Duarte (Minas Gerais State), in the Zona da Mata, some 300 kilometers east of Belo Horizonte.

According to the State Forest Institute (IEF), the authority responsible for managing the conservation unit, the fire broke out last Sunday afternoon, September 27th, in an area near the park. The flames spread quickly and reached the unit on Monday, September 28th.

For three days, firefighters, soldiers, volunteers, and state park employees have been trying to control the situation and put out the flames that are spreading through the dry vegetation.

In all, 75 people are involved in fighting the fire, which has the support of a Fire Department helicopter.

Due to the fire, the IEF has suspended the reopening of the park to visitors. After six months closed to the public due to the measures implemented because of the Covid-19 pandemic, visits would restart on Wednesday, September 30th. In a note, the state institute says that the new reopening date will be announced as soon as the fire is extinguished and the situation is normalized.

The causes and the total area burned will still be ascertained.

Covered by the Atlantic Forest, the Ibitipoca State Park is one of the most popular in Minas Gerais and one of the main tourist attractions of the Zona da Mata, having several creeks and streams with natural pools and waterfalls.

According to the IEF, the region shelters endangered species such as the brown jaguar, the maned wolf, and the Titi primate. Bearded sakis, blue-bellied parrots, coatis, and biscutate swifts can also be found in the area. In addition, a frog species, the Hyla ibitipoca, was sighted for the first time in the region, from which it inherited its surname.

Firefighters and soldiers from Minas Gerais have been battling forest fires in different regions of the state. In the last few days alone, two major outbreaks have mobilized teams in the Serra de São Domingos and Ituitaba.

In Serra de São Domingos, in Poços de Caldas (MG), the fire, which started on Sunday afternoon, was only controlled on Monday morning, September 28th. Like the State Park of Ibitipoca, the mountains attract many tourists.

A preliminary balance shows that the flames have burnt some 13 hectares of native vegetation. Each hectare corresponds, approximately, to an official soccer field.

In Ituitaba, a city near the state’s western border with Goiás, about 140 kilometers from Uberlândia, on Sunday a forest fire destroyed approximately ten thousand square meters, according to the Fire Department. The fire was extinguished that same day.

Source: Agência Brasil