From the beginning of the year until November 16, 30% of the Pantanal was affected by the historic fires that consumed the biome in 2020. Taking into account only the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, this number has reached 40%. The biome fire hit mainly forest areas and understories.
According to a study by the NGO ICV (Instituto Centro de Vida), more than 2.1 million hectares of Pantanal were affected this year. Adding to the areas of the Amazon and the cerrado present in Mato Grosso, the total burnt region reached 8.5 million hectares, an area over 50 times the size of the city of São Paulo.
But even with the fire records for the Pantanal, the Amazon was the biome that most burned in the state of Mato Grosso, with more than 3.2 million hectares affected by the fires.
The analysis shows that in the Amazon the fire was also concentrated in the forest and recently deforested areas, categories that together account for 55% of the fires. Pasture and savanna areas come next on the ranking, with 39% of the fires.
Translated by Cassy Dias