The New York Times recently published an article by David Gelles highlighting the work of the Earth Innovation Institute in preventing and controlling forest fires in the Amazon and part of the trajectory of the organization's Executive Director, Dan Nepstad, who has been working in the region for over three decades. The article, entitled “Stopping the Greatest Threat to the Amazon Forest, One Fire at a Time,” was also reproduced in Folha de São Paulo under the title “Scientist returns to the Amazon to contain fires.”

The article highlights the importance of forest fire control in transforming the Amazon into one of the greatest natural solutions for the global climate. This topic is explored in depth in the EII study “The Great Climate Solution: The Amazon Rainforest and the Carbon Market” which explains how reducing fires and maintaining the forest standing increases its role as a carbon sink.

The work highlighted by the NYT is the result of solid partnerships. The main one is with Aliança da Terra, responsible for preventing forest fires in five municipalities — four in Brazil and one in Peru — within the scope of EII projects. In Paragominas, State of Pará, the focus of the report, the Institute also works in collaboration with Produzindo Certo, the Rural Producers' Syndicate, CIRAD, the municipal government, and the Rural Communities Forum. Each partner plays a key role in the design and implementation of the Innovative Municipalities Program, which uses the Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) methodology, following four strategic components: integrated fire management, forest restoration, sustainable production, and governance.

The Paragominas initiative is part of the State of Pará’s REDD+ Jurisdictional System. Over the past two years, the EII has been working with the agricultural sector to develop a forest incentive system financed by the sale of JREDD+ credits. Fire prevention has emerged as a priority in these dialogues, and the municipality is testing a model that starts with fire (already underway through CIRAD, the Syndicate, and the Forum), improved land use planning, and long-term forest protection and restoration.

Similar models are being implemented in other municipalities in the Amazon. In Querência (State of Mato Grosso), the project is being conducted in partnership with the PCI Institute. With recent support from the Moore Foundation, integrated land/landscape management initiatives are also expanding to Feijó (State of Acre), Marianópolis (State of Tocantins), and Coronel Portillo, in Ucayali, Peru.

The NYT report made a mistake in stating/suggesting that Maxiely Scaramussa Bergamin, president of the Paragominas Rural Producers' Syndicate, advocates replacing livestock farming. In reality, she supports the sustainable intensification of livestock farming and productive diversification as ways to increase income and greater resilience for rural communities — not the replacement or end of the activity, as the article may suggest.

EII's work in the Amazon is based on more than 30 years of continuous activity in the region. Since the 1990s, innovative research on drought, fire, and forest ecology, partnerships with farmers and ranchers, and collaboration with national, state, and municipal governments helped to structure environmental policies in several Brazilian states, Peruvian regional governments, and Colombian departments. The current firefighting effort represents the latest step in this long-term commitment: expanding integrated solutions that strengthen local partners, support the rural economy, and keep the Amazon standing.

Read the full article here