How decades of conflict over Indigenous land claims may have fuelled the fires in the Amazon rainforest

Record wildfires across the Amazon, coupled with reports of a coordinated burn of the rainforest by farmers, are the culmination of a conflict between Indigenous groups and land developers in Brazil that dates back years, activists say.

It's a conflict that advocate Adriana Ramos says is now being stoked by Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro in an effort to spur development in the Amazon rainforest, much of which is Indigenous land.

Though wildfires have swept the region, reports suggest that some fires have been started intentionally. On Aug. 10, a group of farmers and so-called landgrabbers reportedly planned a coordinated effort to set fire to the forests.

It's being called the Day of Fire.

"They wanted to show the president that they were supporting [his] politics," said Ramos, advocacy coordinator with the Socio-Environmental Institute in Brazil working to advance Indigenous rights.

The more than 75,000 fires across the Amazon this year have drawn international concern. At the G7 summit last weekend, the leaders promised $20 million of international funding to help fight the fires.

Justin Trudeau promised to send $15 million and water bombers to help Brazil and other South American countries dealing with the fires.

How are Indigenous people in the Amazon coping?

Fires themselves are not new to Indigenous peoples in the Amazon, and Ramos says the communities are prepared for them. They clear the area around their villages so the fires have nothing to burn in order to protect their homes.

But the scale of these fires bring different issues. Ramos says the smoke is creating health concerns for people living in the area and there's a risk to crops outside the villages.

"There is the risk of losing everything they have planted, and also a huge impact on [the] biodiversity they rely on," she told Day 6 guest host Saroja Coelho.

"Also, if they leave, they are opening the space for those that have illegally created the fire so that they can try to occupy the communities' lands."

What do we know about how the fires started?

According to Ramos, controlled burns are not uncommon in the region.

"There is this normal dynamic in agriculture in Brazil, in the Amazon, which is called slash and burn," she said. This is where people deforest land and then set fires to clear out anything that's left so they can begin planting.

"This is normally something that is done in a controlled way," said Ramos.

What was different this year was the coordinated effort of the Day of Fire, which Ramos says federal prosecutors are now investigating.

What's behind this conflict over Indigenous land claims?

There has been a long history of conflict between Indigenous people and land developers since explorers first landed in Brazil, says Ramos.

"I think that this comes from when Brazil was first found by the Portuguese, so it's something historical," she said.

But, she added that since 2000, Brazil's crop exportation increased and so did the political power of the people who worked in that sector.

She says they started "trying to reduce the creation of environmental legislation and the implementation of the rights of Indigenous people."

"The conflicts have been growing," said Ramos.

How has Bolsonaro's election influenced deforestation?

Bolsonaro campaigned against Indigenous land claims during his bid for presidency last year. He favoured development in the region.

Soon after his election, he made the Minister of Agriculture responsible for Indigenous land claims, and said those lands should be opened for development.

"Brazil has legislation that still allows deforestation in the Amazon, in certain areas," said Ramos. "But in fact the majority, almost 95 per cent of all deforestation, is illegal."

She says the country had been establishing policies aimed at reducing deforestation, and they were successful — for a while.

"The point is that the government has been almost defending the right to deforest, and the president has an approach against the conservation policies, against Indigenous people," said Ramos.

She says Bolsonaro has signaled to land developers that he will not enforce environmental laws, and the BBC reports that since he came to power, fines for environmental crimes have dropped.

How are Indigenous communities responding?

"Communities have been organizing themselves, in many cases, to guarantee that their areas are not invaded," Ramos said.

She says the lands are taken over most often for logging and for gold mining. 

"Indigenous people try to get support from the government, but at moment, that is almost impossible," said Ramos. Instead, they're taking it upon themselves to patrol their territories.

"What we have seen is a group of Indigenous people in the Munduruku Indigenous lands, have managed to put the invaders out of their territories," said Ramos. She says they put a group of women out in front in order to avoid conflict, "and just guarantee that the people would run from them."

"But there are also many situations in which that comes into a violent conflict and that Indigenous leaders are murdered," she said.

Will the confrontations continue?

As the fires get closer to Indigenous lands, Ramos says it will become very dangerous.

"But we are also relying on all this public visibility of the issue to guarantee that the state governments and other agencies of the government will start to take care [of] it," she said.