October 7, 2021

12:10

João Paulo Guimarães – from Cenarium

CHAPADA DOS VEADEIROS (GO) – Zé Gabriel is a Kalunga from Quilombo Engenho II, in Goiás, and received the CENARIUM in the base of the National Center for Prevention and Fight Against Forest Fires (Prevfogo), from the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), in the city of Cavalcante, 374 kilometers from Goiânia. In the region of the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, the vigils and constant observations of the weather and of the smaller fires that start make it possible for the Quilombola brigade to have enough time to fight the smaller fire spots that can turn into large-scale fires.

The kalunga fighter said that, despite the rains, the combats remain intense, because there are still many focuses and the causes are undetermined, but today the fire is under control. “Last week there was a big fire of undetermined origin. We say undetermined because we can not say that the fire was criminal, so you are coming in the phase where the main focuses are under control and management. We are aware of the calls and we are doing our rounds to fight the criminal action, but now there is the security of fire control”, said the firefighter.

There are farms within the quilombola territory, such as Fazenda Pequí, which already has a delivery order from the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) to release the area for Kalunga territory. The owner of the farm did not authorize the management work of aceiros (a cleaning technique to prevent fire from spreading through the land rich in organic matter) and fire, which would be a prevention against burnings. Soon after, fires started inside the locality, causing the Kalunga to have to intervene with the farmer’s approval. The fires eventually consumed part of the farm, even with the work of the Prevfogo brigade, which is 100% Kalunga.

The media has not been publicizing the real situation of the Chapada dos Veadeiros, at the same time that part of the public power tries to reduce the area of the National Park, with the excuse that the Chapada and its protected Cerrado area hinder the expansion of agribusiness. It is very easy to find soy or corn plantations with a neighboring area completely devastated by “fire of undetermined origin”. This scenario becomes a pattern, in the same way that it is not possible to find burned soy or corn plantations. It is always the area neighboring the plantation.

Kalunga Brigade

The Kalunga Brigade is the most structured and best equipped in the region. They count with ten donated fire blowers and a new vehicle for team displacement. Even so, the difficulties are in the number of brigade members. Recently new volunteers have joined, some being tourist guides who survive on the activity in the Chapada dos Veadeiros. These are people who risk their lives in situations that show, in an almost obvious way for those who witness them, that fires are often caused by criminal action.

Mission

On the first day of the patrol, the brigade searched for three fires near Engenho II, a quilombola territory, when they came across a vehicle from Prevfogo, from Ibama. The men, already exhausted from the combat, advised that the flames were under control.

“The area we are fighting belongs to farms and one of the farmers set the fire to sprout, which is what they call the growth of grass for the cattle. In this way, the fire grows out of control. The action of the strong wind in the mountains does the rest of the work, taking sparks to other parts of the region, starting other smaller fires, which soon become large fires”, Zé Gabriel concluded.