2023 Amazon Rainforest Fires

An astonishing 11.8 million acres of Brazil’s Amazon have been scorched from January to September 2023

Industrial agriculture and cattle-ranching are the primary drivers of Amazon fires

Expanding and securing land rights of Indigenous peoples is one of the best ways to protect the Amazon

Rainforest Foundation Us’s Response to the Amazon Fires

Healthy communities can manage and protect their lands better than anyone. Building on 35 years of steady, dedicated work with Indigenous partners in the Amazon, Rainforest Foundation US provides direct technical support in legal defense, land titling, monitoring, and capacity-strengthening, so that Indigenous communities may continue to manage their rainforest territories with the knowledge and care they have sustained for thousands of years.

Throughout the Amazon, we are supporting partners to actively prevent and respond to the threat of fires by:

Advancing land rights to over 7.9 million acres of Indigenous peoples’ territories in the Amazon regions of Peru, Brazil, and Guyana.
Expanding Indigenous monitoring programsto over 17.5 million acres of tropical forest throughout Central and South America.
Launching five high-profile advocacy and legal initiatives to improve territorial security for over 34.6 million acres of land and forests.

How do Indigenous Peoples and Land Rights help prevent fires?

Indigenous peoples are the most effective forest stewards. Rainforests held by Indigenous peoples have a lower presence of fire and lower fire temperatures, meaning they’re better able to resist forest loss. Data also shows that rainforests managed by Indigenous peoples contain greater carbon density than state-managed forests and foster higher levels of biodiversity.

It’s simple: One of the best ways to protect the Amazon from destruction from fire, mining, and illegal-logging is to secure and expand the land rights of Indigenous peoples living in these territories. Ensuring Indigenous peoples and local communities have rightful governance and control over their territories, as well as access to the necessary technology, training, and resources to manage and protect their territories is crucial to preventing fires and protecting the biodiversity and cultural heritage of the region.

The satellite map below displays real-time fires and Indigenous peoples’ lands. The majority of fires are observed outside Indigenous territories, typically ceasing at their boundaries.

What is the current status of the Amazon fires in 2023?

While deforestation has decreased significantly in the Amazon this year, the forest is still burning at an alarming rate. A staggering 11.8 million acres (4.8 million hectares) of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest have burned since the beginning of 2023—nearly double the size of the state of Maryland—as reported by MapBiomas Fire Monitor. For several days, Manaus, the largest city in Brazil’s Amazonas state, was shrouded in a toxic cloud of smoke from forest fires. Amazonas, the country’s largest state, faced its worst October for fires in the past 25 years, as reported by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

Fire season is cyclical in the Amazon, and tracks with the corresponding dry season in different regions. Fires in the northern Amazon typically begin in February and reach their peak in March, while fires in the Southern Amazon begin in July and peak in August or September.

The number of fires is accelerating as the season drags on. In September, 1.9 million hectares burned in Brazil’s Amazon, marking a 46% increase compared to August when 1.3 million hectares were affected.

The Impact of El Niño and Unprecedented Drought:

As scientists predicted, an intense El Niño phenomenon (unusually warm Pacific waters disrupting weather patterns) is sweeping across the continent. For the Amazon, this has triggered one of the most relentless droughts in recorded history, impacting communities and putting wildlife at risk. The combination of El Niño, record-breaking temperatures for the past eight years, and deforestation raises concerns about the future of the Amazon.

Amazon fires made global headlines in 2019—will 2023 be as bad?

In August 2019, massive smoke plumes drifted thousands of miles from the burning Amazon and settled over Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, blocking out the sun.

The world’s attention focused on Jair Bolsonaro’s administration as he opened the Amazon for further exploitation by incentivizing land invasions, mining, ranching and large-scale agriculture, the primary drivers of tropical forest fires.

Despite international pressures, the situation has continued to deteriorate.

The inauguration of President Lula da Silva’s and his inclusion of Indigenous leadership within his administration brings a glimmer of hope for the Amazon. However, a conservative-led congress representing agribusiness interests leaves much yet to be seen. The future of the Amazon hangs in the balance.

Area Burned in Brazil’s Amazon Annually Since 2019

Why Does the Rainforest Burn?

Tropical forests such as the Amazon are very humid, and under natural conditions they rarely burn—unlike many forests in the western United States where fire is a natural part of the forest’s life cycle.

In the last few decades, two interrelated phenomena have driven Amazon fires: drought, and the expansion of industrial agriculture.

Forests cleared for cattle or crops are cut and then deliberately set on fire once the felled trees are dry enough to burn. Typically, the surrounding forest is wet enough to stop the fire at the edges of new fields and pastures. But prolonged drought in the Amazon basin—linked to climate change and deforestation—means fires are escaping into neighboring intact forests and burning out of control across thousands of acres.

As more forests are cleared, new roads are built, more people move into the area, and new fields are cleared for cattle and crops, creating a vicious cycle that both intensifies the drought and exposes more forests to fire threats.

Scientists warn this cycle is leading the entire Amazon towards a ‘tipping point,’ believed to occur when the combined effects of deforestation and degradation surpass a threshold of 20% to 25%. At that point, the world’s largest tropical forest would become so fragmented that it would no longer retain sufficient moisture to sustain itself, leading to catastrophic consequences for the global climate and life on Earth.

Related News

Indigenous representatives speaking at COP28 podium

Stories

COP28: Indigenous peoples should take center stage, and supporting their communities is key to effectively mitigating climate change

Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS) will participate in COP28, supporting Indigenous leaders from the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), an organization that unites Indigenous peoples and local community (IP and LC) organizations from 24 countries in the Amazon Basin, Mesoamérica, the Congo Basin, and Indonesia, among other national and regional partners.

Newsletters

2023 A Year in Review

Reflecting on the year’s end, let’s celebrate our collective achievements in 2023! While there’s much work ahead, we’re filled with hope and determination. Explore the highlights of what we accomplished together in Rainforest Foundation US’s 2023 Year in Review.

Stories

Indigenous Tech Camps: An Incubator for Indigenous-Led Solutions in the Peruvian Amazon

Rainforest Foundation US hosted events in the Peruvian Amazon to develop four pilot programs led by Indigenous communities to scale up effective conservation strategies. The Indigenous Tech Camps served as a collaborative platform, uniting various Indigenous organizations with academics, government officials, and international allies. These initiatives underscore our commitment to advancing Indigenous-led solutions in the Amazon.

Support Our Work

Rainforest Foundation US is tackling the major challenges of our day: deforestation, the climate crisis, and human rights violations. Your donation moves us one step closer to creating a more sustainable and just future.