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Brazilian authorities are investigating whether a recent surge in wildfires in the Amazon rainforest have been set on purpose for political motives ahead of the second round of presidential elections later this months.
Fire counts across the biome, which have been near historic lows this year, have tripled since Oct. 4, when Brazilians voted in the first round of national elections. Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, won 47 per cent of the vote, while President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received 45 per cent. The two will face off in an Oct. 25 runoff.
Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro speaks after voting in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 4. (Lucas Landau/The Associated Press)
“The indications are that there has been a premeditated effort” to start the fires, Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco told The Associated Press.
Capobianco and environmental enforcement officials flew over burned areas on Sunday and again on Wednesday. He said they observed fires in protected forest areas arranged in a distinct geometric pattern, suggesting they may have been deliberately set.
It’s not clear who might have started the fires or what their motivations may be. The wildfires have particularly hit Amazonas and Para states over the past few days. Smoke has disrupted daily life in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas and the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon. Public school classes were cancelled and residents were urged to wear face masks.
A resident with a flashlight looks at wildfires burning in Autazes, Brazil, on Oct. 12. (Edmar Barros/The Associated Press)
Local politicians have claimed credit for firefighting efforts or accused authorities of failing to act.
The fires have also become a point of contention outside the Amazon, in an election campaign in which forest protection and climate change have received little attention.
Deforestation in the Amazon soared under former president Bolsonaro, while Lula has brought it back down to the lowest in a decade. Flavio Bolsonaro has denied climate change but said he is an environmental defender, without offering details on protecting the Amazon or supporting forest financing. In speeches, he has called for modernizing environmental laws, which many environmentalists read as loosening them.
A sunset is visible through smoke near the city of Autazes, Brazil, on Oct. 9. (Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty)
The Bolsonaros’ most popular allies — Nikolas Ferreira, a lawmaker from the state of Minas Gerais, and re-elected Sao Paulo Gov. Tarcísio de Freitas, both from southeastern Brazil — cited wildfires last week to criticize Lula’s government. De Freitas said Lula’s Workers Party were hypocrites and “disappeared” while the Amazon burned.
Lula did not address the criticism but said in a video posted Saturday on X that he had spoken with Amazonas Gov. Roberto Cidade and that the federal government was sending resources to support firefighting efforts.
Brazilian firefighters light the area of a wildfire in the Amazon rainforest in Iranduba, Brazil, on Sept. 30. (Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty)
“The people of Amazonas can count on the federal government. We are together in this fight to protect lives, preserve the forest and support those facing this emergency,” the president said.
Susana Braz, a 35-year-old biologist in Manaus who studies how toxic ash from Amazon wildfires affects the region’s rivers, said she could not sleep in her own bed because her smoke-filled bedroom felt like a barbecue grill.
“We come home, and the house is full of smoke,” Braz said. “We go outside, and there’s smoke everywhere.”
People have tried to carry on as usual, but worsening smoke over the past week and a half has fuelled frustration. “Are we really going to accept this smoke as normal, as if everything is fine and we just have to live with it?” she added.
The Jornalista Phelippe Daou Bridge is shrouded in smoke from wildfires in Manaus, Brazil, on Oct. 9. (Edmar Barros/The Associated Press)
The Amazon stores vast amounts of carbon and releases moisture that regulates weather far beyond South America. But climate change and deforestation are making it hotter, drier and more flammable. El Niño, a recurring climate pattern, can also worsen heat and drought.
“Nearly all ignitions in the region are caused by human activity, mainly to renew pastures or clear land,” said Ane Alencar, science director at Brazil’s nonprofit Amazon Environmental Research Institute. “During very dry periods, those fires can escape.”
El Niño, climate change and human activity are fuelling a surge in fires deep in Brazil’s Amazon this month. There were 1,679 fires in Brazil’s Amazonas state in the first two weeks of October, a 253 per cent surge compared to the same period last year.
Fire counts were expected to increase at this time of year with a developing El Niño, but the timing around elections is still notable, Alencar said Thursday.
“Over the past 10 days, we’ve seen fire hot spots nearly triple compared with the 10 days before the election, mainly around Manaus,” she said. “Something happened that led people to burn more.”
A group of women wear masks to protect themselves from smoke caused by wildfires in Manaus, Brazil, on Oct. 9. (Edmar Barros/The Associated Press)
João Morita, a co-ordinator at ICMBio, the federal agency that manages Brazil’s protected areas, has been on the front lines fighting fires in conservation areas in the Amazon. He said several factors could explain last week’s spike in the region, including residents of national forests burning crop plots, despite a ban.
“Fires start for all sorts of reasons. Some are retaliation for enforcement actions. Others are deliberately set with malicious intent. Any unauthorized burning is a crime, so there is a range of possibilities,” Morita said.
Officials and researchers have warned that El Nino’s effects on the Amazon could be worse in 2027 than this year.
A Brazilian firefighter rests in Iranduba, Brazil, on Sept. 30. (Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty)
