FIREFIGHTERS race against time to save what’s left of the world’s largest tropical wetland as raging wildfires put Brazil’s Pantanal under severe threat.
The unrelenting blaze burned close to 32,000 hectares in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The unique ecosystem is home to thousands of species of plants and animals.
These include threatened and almost extinct species like jaguars, giant anteaters, giant river otters, marsh deer, hyacinth macaw, and the largest species of parrot.
Brazil’s Pantanal has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
It has encountered out-of-control fires in recent years.
Experts warned that the blazes in 2024 are worse than the blazes in 2020 when about 30 percent of the Pantanal burned.
Data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said the number of fires from the start of the year up to the 9th of June has been 935% higher than in the same period in 2023.
The series of wildfires in Mato Grosso do Sul state urged authorities to declare an environmental state of emergency in April.
Scientists said the blazes were due to an unusually strong El Nino pattern, worsened by climate change.
