In the lead-up to COP30 in Belém, the international news agency EFE published a feature placing Brazil’s community and Indigenous brigades at the center — the first line of defense against the wildfires spreading across the Amazon and the Pantanal.

The article highlights the growing difficulties these brigades face due to precarious working conditions, chronic underfunding, and increasingly severe droughts driven by climate change. In 2024 alone, Brazil registered 278,000 fire hotspots, a 46% increase from the previous year, while burned areas became 20 times larger in the Amazon and 50 times larger in the Pantanal, according to recent attribution studies.

Key points from the feature include:

  • The urgent need for legal recognition, stability, and protection for brigadistas.

  • The importance of public, private, and philanthropic funding to improve equipment, training, and dignified working conditions.

  • The physical and psychological health impacts on those who fight the fires.

  • The need to build a climate finance ecosystem that supports prevention, emergency response, and recovery.

  • The opportunity at COP30 for Brazil to lead a global agenda where integrated fire management is central to climate and climate justice policy.

The EFE coverage — developed in close coordination with the BASE Initiative — also reached other international outlets, such as elDiario.es, helping bring broader attention to the urgent need to protect and strengthen community brigades.

🔗 Read the full EFE article (in Spanish):
https://efecomunica.efe.com/brigadistas-comunitarios-incendios-forestales-brasil/

🔗 Coverage in elDiario.es (in Spanish):
https://www.eldiario.es/agencias/brigadistas-comunitarios-primera-linea-defensa-incendios-forestales-brasil_1_12751156.html