IPAM and fire: 30 years of pioneering, research and monitoring

28 de May de 2025 | IPAM 30th anniversary

May 28, 2025 | IPAM 30th anniversary

The 30-year history of IPAM (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia) is intertwined with the consolidation of fire research in Brazil. In the institution’s early years, a small group of scientists revolutionized the general understanding of fires in the Amazon and created more precise ways of mapping them.

“When we started looking at satellite images, still in the group that would go on to found IPAM, we noticed purple patches in forest areas that would then disappear. I started mapping these and comparing them with the maps of farms we had at the time and we thought they might be forest fires. I showed this to Daniel Nepstad, who was my advisor at the time, and we visited these areas and concluded that it was indeed fire,” says Ane Alencar, who is now IPAM’s Science Director and was an intern at the Institute at the time.

Mapping fire in the Amazon brought its share of pioneering spirit to IPAM, since the scientific consensus at the time was that the natural humidity of the Amazon rainforest, known for its gigantic rivers and tropical rainfall, would be enough to prevent fire. The reality found by the researchers, however, was different: a forest that was increasingly fragmented and dried out by deforestation was also suffering from anthropogenic fires. Therefore, mapping their causes and consequences became increasingly essential.

“It was a breakthrough for tropical ecology because it was thought that tropical forests are humid and therefore don’t burn, but they were burning. That was in 94 and we were able to map it because we were coming from a sequence of strong El Niños and the forest burned a lot. We can clearly see the forest becoming more flammable and burning more,” adds Alencar.

Thanks in large part to the years of research carried out by IPAM, it is now known that fire in the Amazon has human origins. It is also linked to deforestation, in which trees are felled, left to dry out and then burned to make way for pastures or agricultural crops.

Fire is also used in agricultural expansion and to renew pasture areas. Outside the Amazon, the practice has also led to large-scale fires with evidence of criminal practices and coordination between offenders. In August 2024, an IPAM analysis showed that more than 80% of all the hotspots that hit São Paulo that month occurred in agricultural areas and were started within 90 minutes of each other.

In addition, land grabbers start fires as a tactic to illegally occupy public lands, aggravating environmental degradation. The situation is made even more critical by the opening of clandestine roads and the weakness of inspection – aspects that IPAM has studied and documented over the years.

Área queimada da floresta amazônica próxima de Manaus (Foto: Bibiana Garrido/IPAM).

Burned area of the Amazon rainforest near Manaus (Photo: Bibiana Garrido/IPAM)

The book “Floresta em Chamas” (Forest onFire), launched in 1999, was the result of a study on fire and its impacts on the Amazon rainforest, with support from the World Bank and PPG7, becoming a milestone in IPAM’s first efforts in this area. Together with the Queimadas Project, the work contributed directly to the creation of mechanisms and public policies in institutions such as IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) and INPE (National Institute for Space Research), revolutionizing fire monitoring and firefighting in Brazil.

Research at Tanguro

Since 2004, IPAM has had a pioneering initiative in the study of fire: the Tanguro Research Station, located in Querência, in the state of Mato Grosso, in a transition zone between the Cerrado and the Amazon – occupied by agribusiness. For two decades, this is one of the longest-running open-air laboratories in the world and has been conducting research into the interaction between productive areas and remnants of native vegetation. One of the central focuses is the study of the recovery of burned areas in the Amazon, seeking to understand the processes of forest regeneration and the impacts of recurrent burning on vegetation.

Conducting experiments in a burned area at the Tanguro Research Station (Carlo Eduardo Rodrigues / IPAM).

In 2004, an area of 150 hectares was selected for study and underwent a detailed floristic survey, with the aim of recording the original vegetation, as well as local biodiversity. The amount of combustible material available, such as dry leaves, branches and other elements that favor the spread of fire, was also assessed.

The area was then divided into three 50-hectare plots: one remained intact, serving as a control; the second was subjected to triennial burning (once every three years); and the third was burned annually, totaling six burns.

For ten years, all the plots – including the control plot – were monitored with different methods every two years, allowing a detailed comparison of the effects of fire at different frequencies.

The areas of the study, which became known as the “fire experiment”, have towers equipped with sensors on the ground and 36 meters high, above the treetops, which continuously monitor the flow of stored carbon, the flow of water and the relative humidity of the air in the forest. The data obtained revealed impacts on biodiversity caused by disturbances and extreme climatic events.

Researchers climb the study’s monitoring towers to measure CO2 emission data (Mitch Korolev/Woodwell).

The farm where the laboratory operates is home to a rich fauna, with more than 825 species of wild animals, including endangered species such as the giant armadillo, tapir and jaguar. 87 species of bees and an increase in the diversity of ants have also been recorded, highlighting the complexity and sensitivity of the local ecosystem.

With burning, however, the researchers observed a replacement of species – many with different ecosystem functions – as well as the loss of pollination capacity by some insects and the difficulty of survival of animals and microorganisms in the face of environmental changes.

Amazonia in flames

Over the years, IPAM has published a series of 12 technical notes entitled “Amazonia in Flames“, with in-depth analyses of the dynamics of fire in the Amazon, the profile of the areas affected and the land categories most affected. The first edition, released in August 2019, highlighted the widespread use of fire in agricultural areas and the process behind large-scale forest fires.

The publications focused on producing and disseminating scientific data and analysis to contribute to deepening the debate on fires and burn-offs in the biome. The technical notes also recommend the creation of innovative prevention policies and are key to driving research inside and outside IPAM.

In 2020, the series addressed the relationship between fire and the worsening of respiratory diseases during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the vulnerability of traditional peoples and communities. The data generated supported specific projects aimed at indigenous populations in the context of the pandemic. In 2021, the researchers drew attention to the relationship between the grabbing of public land and the increase in burnt areas, broadening the debate on the delay in regularizing and allocating large tracts of forest.

Cover of the fourth Technical Note in the Amazon on Fire series, highlighting the interaction between smoke from fires and respiratory diseases during the Covid-19 pandemic (Photo: Arquivo/IPAM)

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Air Quality

During its three decades of work, IPAM researchers have highlighted the relationship between fire and poor air quality in the Amazon rainforest, which often suffers from worse rates than those recorded in metropolises. Over the years, 187 low-cost sensors have been installed in all the states of the Legal Amazon as a result of the Institute’s partnership with universities, environmental secretariats and other third sector organizations.

The data produced from these devices highlights the effects of poor air quality on the way of life of indigenous peoples and traditional communities in the Amazon. Despite living in conserved areas, air polluted with smoke from fires has had serious consequences for the health, child development and routine of these groups.

Map of data from low-cost sensors recorded on April 25 (Photo: Arquivo/IPAM)

The data collected by the devices was published by the Respira Amazônia Coalition, of which IPAM is a member, and presented to decision-makers, researchers and local leaders at an event held at UEA (Amazonas State University). The report represents another step in IPAM’s journey in researching fire in Brazil and its relationship with other factors relevant to conservation and national security, such as health, food generation and organized crime.

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