Proposal seeks to help combat fires in the Pantanal through the use of “extensive livestock farming aimed at reducing biomass”
THE government of Mato Grosso sanctioned the law that includes the figure of the “firefighter ox” in APPs (Permanent Protection Areas), with the aim of helping to combat fires in the Pantanal, one of the biomes most affected by fires.
Law 12,653 of 2024, published in Official Gazette of the State in the 6thª fair (20.Sep.2024), allows the use of “extensive livestock farming and the practice of mowing aimed at reducing combustible plant biomass and the risk of forest fires”.
The legislation was the result of a negotiation with the MPMT (Public Prosecutor’s Office of Mato Grosso), which requested changes to a previous law (11,861 of 2022), the target of a direct action of unconstitutionality. Extensive livestock farming in native pasture areas was already permitted in permanent protection areas in the legislation approved in 2022. However, there was no reference to the use of cattle as an instrument to reduce fire risks.
In a note, the government of MT highlighted that the use of extensive livestock farming – when cattle live freely in pasture and require larger amounts of land – in areas of permanent protection is only permitted in places with native pastures.
“It is not an unrestricted release to raise cattle in the Pantanal, but rather for livestock activity to create natural firebreaks, helping to reduce the spread of fires”says the MT Environment Secretariat, adding that “the law brings clear restrictions, so that the activity promotes the sustainable, economic and social development of the region”.
The “firefighter ox” thesis gained national repercussion in 2020, when the largest fire in the biome’s history occurred, consuming around 30% of the Brazilian Pantanal.
At the time, the then Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply of the Bolsonaro government, Teresa Cristinadefended the expansion of livestock farming to reduce fires. This thesis, which is resisted by environmentalists, is based on the principle that cattle, by consuming the combustible material of vegetation, can reduce the intensity of fires.
Access and Use
MPMT prosecutor Ana Luiza Perperline, who worked on the unconstitutionality action against law 11,861 of 2022, explained to Brazil Agency that the new legislation published last week is a step forward as it has removed the possibility of using APPs for extensive livestock farming.
The previous rule allowed cattle to use and access these protected areas. The new law only allows access. In other words, cattle cannot remain on native pastures for an indefinite period of time.
“The cattle will not use the protected area. They will only access these areas to access water. It is very difficult to restrict cattle access to water, especially in native pasture areas. This is because, at certain times of the year, practically everything turns, or turned, into water in the Pantanal. This difficulty leads us to the conclusion that it is impossible to fence off all these areas to prevent cattle access.”he stated.
For the prosecutor, the changes in the law corrected the unconstitutionalities pointed out by the Public Ministry. “The previous law allowed, in a certain way, the use of the legal reserve for activities that were not permitted by law, except through sustainable forest management”he stated.
firefighter ox
The “firefighter ox” thesis is also defended by studies of Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation). According to the government of Mato Grosso, “the sustainable permission for livestock farming in the area is based on more than 50 years of studies by Embrapa Pantanal”.
On the other hand, the thesis is rejected by some experts and environmentalists. A 2020 survey by Professor Ubirajara Oliveira, from the Remote Sensing Center of UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), showed that the cities where there are more cattle in the Pantanal are where the largest number of fire outbreaks are concentrated.
For biologist Gustavo Figueroa, director of the SOS Pantanal Institutethere is some truth to this thesis, but its effectiveness is relative.
“On some occasions and in some places, cattle will reduce organic matter, but it is impossible to imagine that putting cattle everywhere will reduce fires, so much so that several farms that have livestock activities have also caught fire.”he stated.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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