134 voluntary firefighters trained: indigenous people and rural producers prepared to combat wildfires in Brazilian rainforest
Without an active and effective fire firefighting system on the Amazon and Cerrado frontiers, the forests will succumb to degradation. In order to secure forest protection and reduce carbon product loss on public and private lands, Aliança da Terra is committed to create and strengthen an effective voluntary firefighting force to reduce fire events in the Xingu basin and surrounding areas.
In May 2013, Aliança da Terra Fire Brigade, followed by PrevFogo (Brazilian National Center for Prevention and Fire Combat) and SEMA/MT (Environmental Department of Mato Grosso state), had a very successful training trip to the National Interagency Fire Center of the United States Forest Services (USFS), located in Boise, Idaho state, where they participated in advanced firefighting and strategic management training exercises. The teams participated in fire combat simulations including communication systems and logistics of airplanes, helicopters, trucks, equipment and supplies.
Aliança da Terra´s Fire Brigade has been frequently trained by the “smokejumpers” unit of the USFS since 2009. This partnership has been of great value for giving the brigade the knowledge and technical skills in order to be able to provide high-level firefighting training to Brazilian citizens living in fire risk-prone areas.
During the past year, a total of 134 voluntary fire fighters received training, a combination of 61 individuals from eight different tribes from Xingu Park and one Suruí tribe, and an extra 43 individuals from farming background.
It was 128 hours of training, including theoretic and practical exercises organized and held by the firefighting team of Aliança da Terra. The training exercises were held in four different locations - Xingu Park, São Miguel do Araguaia, Água Boa and Cacoal Land Settlement.
Also, it is important to highlight that Aliança da Terra’s Fire Brigade dedicated a total of 234 hours combating wildfires in public and private lands located in the north-eastern part of Mato Grosso during 2013.