News of fires raging across the Amazon has captured the world’s attention. Shocking images of thousands of hectares of rainforest consumed by flames have shed light on the fate of this irreplaceable ecosystem, which holds over half of the planet’s remaining tropical forests and plays a crucial role in regulating global climate cycles.
These fires have not only affected Peru but also Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina, revealing a broader issue that transcends borders. Some point fingers at small-scale farmers, citing traditional slash-and-burn agricultural practices that, when uncontrolled, spread beyond their intended areas into the forest.
But this raises important questions. Why are traditional practices like slash-and-burn agriculture, which have been used for centuries, now causing such catastrophic impacts? What is happening to the Amazon?
This article is an invitation to reflect on these questions, not to assign blame, but to understand some of the factors driving these events and how they relate to both global changes and transformations within Amazonian societies.
Traditional Amazonian Agriculture
For centuries, Indigenous peoples of the Amazon have practiced shifting tropical agriculture based on slash-and-burn techniques. Fire is used to clear small plots of land —typically between ½ and 1 hectare — which become highly productive thanks to the nutrients released by the fire. After 3 or 4 years of cultivation, when the land’s fertility declines, the plots are left to regenerate naturally.
These regenerating areas, known locally as “purmas,” eventually become secondary forests. After 15 years or more, when the vegetation and nutrients have sufficiently recovered, families return to the same areas, using slash-and-burn again to start a new cultivation cycle. This method has sustained Amazonian communities for generations without causing significant environmental damage.
So, why have fires in the Amazon become so destructive in recent years?
Population Growth, Shifting Land Use, and Drier Conditions
Population growth and its increasing concentration in Amazonian communities have made slash-and-burn agriculture less sustainable. Today, people are using younger, less mature “purmas”, which results in the gradual depletion of soil nutrients and the weakening of the forest’s regenerative capacity.
But how can a lush, humid rainforest like the Amazon be vulnerable to fire?
This is where the broader context of climate change becomes essential. Rising global temperatures, coupled with increasingly severe droughts, are drying out parts of the Amazon, making the forest more susceptible to fires.
Additionally, deforestation and the widespread loss of vegetation have deprived the Amazon of its characteristic moisture. Exposed soil bakes under the sun, making it a hotspot for fires to spread easily.
The harsh reality is that the Amazon is losing its ability to regulate global climate cycles, and those disrupted cycles are now accelerating its degradation. This highlights the urgent need to transition to practices that both preserve the rainforest and meet the needs of Amazonian families.
Chacras Integrales: A Sustainable Alternative for the Amazon and its people
At the Chaikuni Institute, we promote chacras integrales — an agroforestry system that provides benefits to both local families and the forest without relying on burning. This approach fosters biodiversity by encouraging the cultivation of a wide range of species, allowing families to meet a wide range of needs. Fruit trees, timber species, annual crops (such as cassava, corn, and plantains), palm trees, and medicinal plants coexist, offering a year-round, long-term source of sustenance and income.
In addition to promoting diversity, this system further promotes no burning of the cut vegetation when opening space to plant. Instead, the cut biomass is left on the ground feeding the system with its own organic matter, mimicking the very system of the tropical rainforest. This not only helps regenerate the soil but also prevents further deforestation, as there is no need to clear new forest areas in search of new nutrients every few years, as is the case with slash-and-burn agriculture.
The challenges posed by these fires are complex, and the problem is global. Extractive industries and changes in land use remain constant threats. However, we believe that the key to overcoming these challenges lies in working alongside Amazonian communities to promote sustainable and regenerative practices.
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Since 2012, our Permaculture Program has been dedicated to research and revive harmonious and productive methods of interacting with our environment. We remain committed to working with local and Indigenous communities to promote non-burning agroforestry systems. To support our efforts, click here. Join us in making a positive impact!
