março, 01 2024

By Fábio de Castro, special for WWF-Brazil

When the worst drought in recorded history hit the Amazon, in 2023, WWF-Brazil mobilised to support partners in the territory in order to face the humanitarian crisis in the region, since the consequences of the drought proved especially dramatic for the most vulnerable populations, such as indigenous peoples, quilombolas, extractivists and riverside dwellers. Since then, the organisation has donated around 60 tons of food to more than 3,900 families in areas impacted by shortages in the states of Pará, Amazonas and Rondônia.

“The families had great relief, as in many cases there really was no more food at that moment. The help arrived at a very good time”, says Dioneia  dos Santos Pereira, coordinator of the Rural Workers Union (STTR, in Portuguese) of Santarém, which represents nine regions of the huge municipality of Santarém, in Pará state. She says that more than 15,000 farmers linked to the institution were affected by the drought and that they await with anxiety the return of the rains this year. “It rained a little, but not enough to soak the ground. Many people planted cassava and corn these days, but the rain didn't come with much force, so the plant can't evolve and dies. This jeopardises food security and we are concerned about hunger in the region. God grant it doesn’t happen, but it’s worrying.”

Dioneia points out that in floodplain regions, where plantations were hit hard during the drought, there is difficulty in reestablishing cultivation. “The cassava tree, for example, has a six-month cycle between planting and harvesting. Many people lost their crops because the rain didn't come. And if the replanting attempt is made too late, flooding can start and prevent the harvest,” she says. “There was also a lot of fish mortality, because the waters got too hot. The difficulty of transport was terrible. Some people had to walk seven kilometres to get drinking water.”

With around 400 families, the Urumanduba community, where Dioneia has lived since she was born 49 years ago, is eight kilometres from the city of Santarém. Other communities in the regions of Lago Grande, Arapiuns, Arapixuna, Cumaúma and Chapadão are much further away. “Children in these communities have been especially harmed. They went to schools by boat, but as everything dried up they had to walk several kilometres. In the Arapixuna region, children walked up to 18 kilometres from the community of Muacá to the community of Carareacá, where the school is located,” she says.

The union's estimate is that family farming production fell by 70% during the drought. And that's not the only problem. “With the death of fish, the risk of food insecurity is already high. My community is on the banks of the Humaitá River and the fish all died. Some people raise cattle there and are worried because the pasture is now entirely dry”, warns the STTR coordinator.

Osvaldo Barassi Gajardo, Conservation specialist and leader of WWF-Brazil's emergency response centre, reports that as soon as river levels in the Amazon began to drop drastically, jeopardising logistics for residents to have access to products and markets, the organisation intensified communication with local partners.

“The situation was alarming. We coordinated with partners at the forefront to identify and prioritise the most vulnerable families. So, we were able to provide an initial response to support some of them who were in a more critical situation. Between the months of November and December, we donated food parcels to almost 4,000 families in regions of Rondônia, Pará and Amazonas”, says Gajardo.

Working together in Pará

In the Tapajós River Basin, WWF-Brazil worked with three organisations, Sapopema (Society for Research and Protection of the Environment), Fepipa (Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Pará) and Cita (Indigenist Council of Tapajós), which represents several indigenous people communities, for the distribution of 2,000 food parcels.

WWF-Brazil made the acquisition of food possible, but the logistics to reach vulnerable communities were carried out by partners, in collaboration with some city halls, ICMBio (Chico Mendes Biodiversity Conservation Institute) and other local institutions, which provided vehicles and fuel for deliveries. “It was a good strategy, which allowed us to buy more food parcels and demonstrated the effectiveness of collective work, by several organisations, to respond to a common emergency”, points out Gajardo.

In the Tapajós-Arapiuns Extractive Reserve, in Pará state, many dead fish are still appearing. “The drought increased the amount of grass on the banks of the lakes. When the water began to rise, the accumulation of grass prevented the migration of fish and this is still causing great mortality”, says Wandicleia Lopes, coordinator of Sapopema. “Without fish and without crops, the impact on food security is very strong not only for riverside communities, but also for populations in urban centres, as markets are no longer supplied with these products.”

A resident of the community of Boca de Cima do Aritapera, a floodplain region in the municipality of Santarém, Maria Zulma Lopes Monteiro says that the main impact left by the drought was poor access to drinking water. “The rains are still light, but the rivers have flooded a little, access has improved and from most communities it is now possible to go to the centre of Santarém by boat. But the water is still not good for consumption. The grass that accumulated during the drought rotted and affected the water quality,” she says.

According to Maria Zulma, humanitarian support was fundamental in the region. “We had help from WWF-Brazil, which was very important for families who lost their production or were unable to produce at all. The difficulties were huge for the residents, especially the farmers,” she recalls. “Those who managed to produce ended up losing everything because they didn’t have access to transportation to deliver their production. It was very difficult. I was born and raised in this community and I have never seen a drought like last year. It was the worst year I’ve ever seen,” she concludes.

Support in Rondônia and Amazonas

In Rondônia, rubber-growing communities in the Madeira River area and the Lago Cuniã Extractive Reserve were supported, in a partnership with the Kanindé Ethno-environmental Defence Association and the Rubber Tappers Organisation. In this region, families live from fishing and there has been a lot of fish mortality, with dry rivers and great difficulty in access. There, 500 families from more than 10 communities received 500 basic food parcels.

Through the Alliance for the Sustainable Development of Southern Amazonas, which brings together 10 municipalities in the state, WWF-Brazil donated 1,200 food parcels. The expectation is that another 500 will be delivered. In the same region, the organisation had already donated 103 food parcels to the APADRIT association, from the Ituxi Extractive Reserve. “We also support the Piagaçu-Purus Sustainable Development Reserve, with 120 food parcels, in partnership with the Department of the Environment of the state of Amazonas”, says Gajardo.

Although in the south of Amazonas the drought has already ceased, the population continues to face its impacts. “In most of the region, the rain has already returned with force. Now the communities are afraid of flooding, but are already anticipating that they could be hit again by a severe drought”, reports Josimar Silva, executive secretary of the Alliance. “We had communities that suffered more and others less. Some of them got isolated, others lost their crops and many people became sick because of the scarce and contaminated water.”

Silva states that residents of southern Amazonas refer to the latest drought as “the biggest drought of all time”. “This shows the influence of climate change happening. Now, in the present time, these are no longer predictions but events that unfold before our eyes”, he says.

Other fronts of action of WWF-Brazil

In addition to harming a large part of the population, which was left isolated and having difficulty accessing basic items such as food and drinking water, the extreme drought of 2023 also hit the fauna. The most dramatic case was the death of at least 300 river dolphins of the pink species (Inia geoffrensis) and of the tucuxi species (Sotalia fluviatilis) in lakes Tefé and Coari, in Amazonas state.

Since the first carcasses were identified in September 2023, WWF-Brazil has worked in partnership with task forces led by the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development (IDSM) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, providing fuel, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), veterinary supplies and logistical support for the movement of volunteers. 

As well as providing support in the planning and mapping of areas sensitive to animals, including the use of climate models. The expectation is that a workshop will be held in the first half of this year with experts from all partner organisations to discuss the lessons learned from the 2023 crisis and establish protocols to avoid and mitigate similar events in the near future.

On another front, WWF-Brazil intensified donations of equipment to firefighting brigades, especially in settlements and riverside and indigenous communities, due to the fires that occurred in the Amazon, caused by the drought. In December 2023, three brigades were supported, two in Tapajós River Basin and one in Amazonas state. And this work continues in 2024.