Fire devastates indigenous land and smoke spreads across the state of Mato Grosso. The burned area is equivalent to 31 Ibirapuera parks.
A massive fire has been devastating vegetation for four days in the Tadarimana Indigenous Territory, in Rondonópolis-MT, an indigenous reserve of the Bororo ethnic group. Indigenous people say the fire has already consumed more than 5 hectares, the equivalent of 31 Ibirapuera parks in São Paulo.
247 - The region inhabited by the Bororo indigenous people is on fire. More than 5 hectares have been burned. Due to the lack of rain and the wind, the flames spread to the region, covering the urban area of Rondonópolis and frightening city residents.
A report from the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. It highlights that “according to the Fire Department, the situation was aggravated by other fires recorded in both urban and rural areas. Approved in 1991, the Tadarimana Indigenous Territory has 10 hectares and is inhabited by just over 600 indigenous people. Since last Friday (31), when the fire started, the indigenous people themselves have been trying to contain the flames, without success.”
The article further underlines that “the Fire Department was called and is working with eight military personnel in the region, but as of Monday afternoon (3) they had not yet managed to extinguish the flames, not even with the support of machinery and firefighters provided by the Municipality of Rondonópolis. After three days of fires in the village, the entire region woke up covered in smoke. A leader in the region, the indigenous man Marcelo Koguiepa denounced the fire on social media over the weekend and stated that the indigenous people suspect that the cause of the fire was natural.”