STORY: Fishing guide Amilton Brandao is walking on what he says should be flooded land.
Instead, it’s dried to a crisp.
Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state, home to the Pantanal wetlands, is being ravaged by fires.
“Pantanal was supposed to be flooded at this time, it’s known as the largest wetland in the world and now we see it here, it’s like a desert, an inferno, fire everywhere.”
With a wall of smoke choking off the other side of the field, Brandao helps farmer Cleiton Jose save his cattle.
The ranch is accessible by boat, but the area where the cattle are stuck can only be navigated by horse due to the nature of the wetlands.
JOSE: “We’re trying to take them to the other side of the bay so they have a better chance of surviving. The way the fire is coming, it could surround them and burn them to death.”
There was a 980% increase in the number of fires in the Pantanal through June 5, compared with the same period last year.
That’s according to satellite data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.
Those figures are raising alarm bells as the region heads into the riskiest season for wildfires, which usually starts in July and peaks in August and September.
Brandao says the country is in “reverse,” pointing to Rio Grande do Sul, which has experienced devastating flooding.
“It’s just sadness, sadness. To see a sanctuary like this coming to an end. So much life ends along with the flames.”
