By: Lucia Parra Arce ’24 MEM
An Escalating Wildfire Crisis and Its (Visible) Impacts
During August and September 2024, wildfires, droughts, and extreme heat swept rapidly through South America. A record-breaking wildfire crisis severely impacted at least six countries in the region, bringing significant environmental, health, and socioeconomic impacts.
The fires — spanning through Peru’s Amazon rainforests, the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil and Bolivia, and several forests and savannas across Argentina, Paraguay, and Colombia — exacerbated biodiversity loss by severely deteriorating habitats and causing long-term ecosystem degradation, particularly harming species that are not adapted to fire. Moreover, they played a significant role in changing the global climate, releasing vast quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and dramatically reducing the carbon sequestration and storage capacity of these ecosystems.
Additionally, these fires posed serious, though often overlooked, threats to local communities directly dependent on forests. Exposure to smoke and particulate matter, displacement, and the loss of homes, livelihoods, and income streams — such as those tied to agriculture and tourism — have had negative effects. The mental health challenges associated with these losses have also drastically affected these communities, whose vulnerability was compounded by existing social inequities and power imbalances.
To gain deeper insights into this crisis, I engaged in thought-provoking conversations with two current students pursuing Master of Environmental Management degrees at the Yale School of the Environment: Felipe Storch de Oliveira ‘25 MEM, a member of the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) of the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA), and Stefanía Sibille Grández ‘25 MEM, a student program associate at The Conservation Finance Network. The following paragraphs reflect a blend of my personal insights, informed by a scientific review, alongside the valuable perspectives shared by Storch de Oliveira and Sibille Grández.
Understanding the Roots
Addressing this complex crisis demands a deeper understanding of its root causes, coupled with an effort to identify cooperative and equitable solutions and to define our role in driving systemic change.
Reports (link is external) indicate that the recent wildfire crisis in South America — though not the first, and certainly not the last — stemmed from a combination of human activities, including deforestation for industrial agriculture expansion and illegal practices, such as land grabbing and clearing. Extreme conditions induced by climate change, such as rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and unpredictable weather patterns, compounded the crisis. Further, the increasing frequency and intensity of El Niño events have contributed to the occurrence of wildfire crises like the one seen recently.
Due to these shifting climate conditions, some traditional practices historically used by Indigenous peoples and local communities — such as small-scale slash-and-burn agriculture to enrich soils — are now becoming increasingly risky. While these practices are not inherently destructive, under certain conditions, they can inadvertently spark human-caused fires that may escalate into large-scale wildfires.
Public Messaging and the “Double Erasure” of Local Communities
Neglecting the underlying causes, some local politicians (link is external) and media outlets had publicly framed this crisis as a direct result of deforestation caused by “ancestral practices,” specifically pointing to migratory farming in the Amazon. This narrative tends to unfairly blame small-scale migratory farmers, portraying them as the key drivers of the “destruction” of the forest. When in reality, these farmers have minimal to no influence over the larger, intricate systems that trigger fire crises, which are driven by systemic power imbalances.
This framing overlooks that local communities are often excluded from decision-making processes regarding the management and use of the ecosystems on which they rely. “ […] Many forest policies in Peru do not integrate small-scale farmers and do not take into account the realities of local communities,” explains Sibille Grández. Their marginalization — combined with a lack of coordinated prevention of and response to wildfire emergencies — further silences their voices and perpetuates their vulnerability.
“There’s a [public] belief that these [burning] practices are wrong,” Sibille Grández adds, “but there is a need for a nuanced understanding of how environmental changes exacerbate fire risks rather than simplistically blaming traditional practices.”
Storch de Oliveira describes a “double erasure” process that renders communities invisible. The first erasure refers to the absence of policies and resources that Indigenous and local communities need to prevent and manage fire crises. The second erasure reflects how the media and society neglect the lived experiences of those directly affected. “Not only is there a lack of planning or response to these expected crises, but there’s also an erasure of how the realities of these communities are impacted when a wildfire crisis finally occurs,” he explains.
The absence of preventive and management plans and the lack of public acknowledgment of the impact of the fire crisis on local communities double-erase Indigenous and local communities in the Amazon region. Adapted from a quote from Storch de Oliveira ‘25 MEM. Image: Lucia Parra Arce ’24 MEM.
Our Role in This Crisis and a Path Forward
This crisis underscores the urgency of addressing environmental issues from a preventive, inclusive, and just approach. Protecting the region’s ecosystems is not only vital for local communities but also for global environmental stability and continuity. Through coordinated efforts, innovative solutions, and community-empowering initiatives, South America can build resilience against future wildfire threats while safeguarding its irreplaceable natural richness.
While strengthening environmental protections and enforcing regulations against illegal deforestation are crucial government responsibilities, institutions like The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment play a pivotal complementary role. Paulo Brando (link is external), associate professor of ecosystem carbon capture, and the Brando Lab (link is external)’s efforts are increasing science accessibility to inform decision-making and to promote the adoption of a preventive approach, for instance. Additionally, we aspire to keep creating spaces for diverse voices, especially historically marginalized ones, to be heard and included in the dialogue. Sibille Grández emphasizes that local capacity building is fundamental. Democratizing knowledge supports informed decision-making and policymaking, enabling the adaptation of traditional practices to changing climate conditions while empowering the voices and cultures of those with valuable historical and place-based knowledge.
“It’s easy to place blame on someone,” Storch de Oliveira reflects. “Our role should be to show the layers of complexity that lie beyond the surface of this systemic issue.” By fostering inclusivity and understanding, we can better address the multifaceted challenges of wildfire crises and their far-reaching impacts, paving the way for a sustainable and just future for the Amazon, Indigenous peoples, and local communities.
