CONTEXTUALIZATION

The state has a territorial extension of 237,754 km², with its limits being the states of Mato Grosso to the east, Amazonas to the north, Acre to the west and the Republic of Bolivia to the west and south, therefore constituting a border zone. The state has 52 municipalities and 1,581,016 inhabitants, and its capital is the municipality of Porto Velho, with a population of 460,413 (IBGE 2023). Its main activities are agriculture, livestock, the food industry, plant and mineral extraction and, more recently, fish-farming. Rondônia has the 3^rd highest accumulated deforestation rate in the Legal Amazon, behind Pará and Mato Grosso, and has shown an upward trend in recent years.

In the Amazon region, fire is one of the most commonly used instruments in productive activities, due to the slash-and-burn culture for clearing fields and transforming the forest into pasture. Although the use of controlled fire sometimes fulfils ecosystem functions, forest fires and unauthorised burning impact soil fertility, destroy biodiversity, weaken ecosystems, destroy transmission lines, compromise air quality, increase the risk of road accidents and limit air traffic, among other negative effects.

The project complements the actions already carried out by the Rondônia Military Fire Department (CMBRO) and aims to strengthen the structure for actions to prevent and combat forest fires and unauthorised burning. The project adheres to the “Guidelines for the Amazon Fund to support Military Fire Brigades in the states of the Legal Amazon for the prevention and combat of forest fires and unauthorised burning”[1], defined by the Amazon Fund Steering Committee (COFA). It comprises an institutional strengthening component, with support for infrastructure and equipment to prevent and combat forest fires and unauthorised burning and the training of public agents, and a prevention, combat, monitoring and inspection component, with volunteer’s training activities, conducting educational campaigns and supporting the structure for monitoring forest fires and inspection operations.

THE PROJECT

It is structured into two components:

1. Institutional Strengthening, through the acquisition of machines and equipment and the training of agents: the institutional strengthening of the CBMRO aims to improve its structure and acting capacity, through the acquisition of machines and equipment and the training of agents. Within the scope of this component, investments are planned to aim at the operational strengthening of 7 Mobile Forest Fire Prevention and Combat Brigades (“BPCIFM”), in addition to the implementation of 4 BPCIFMs. In addition, it is also planned to train military personnel through courses and internships in fighting forest fires.
   The use of Mobile Brigades favours the ability to prevent and promptly combat forest fires and unauthorised burning, by decentralising the CBMRO structure, creating operational units in strategic locations of high demand and difficult access, in addition to optimising resource allocation, as it allows the mobility of these brigade structures as territories with greater occurrences of fires and forest fires change. The strategy for operationalising the Mobile Brigades consists of installing mobile units from land bases with a minimum number of 8 to 10 brigades per base. Each year, the mobile bases will be positioned in rural areas with the highest number of hot spots, preferably close to conservation units.
2. Prevention, Combat, Monitoring and Inspection, through the training of volunteers in combat techniques and integrated fire management, carrying out educational campaigns and developing a higher monitoring capacity to support inspection actions. The objective of this component seeks to expand prevention, combat, monitoring and inspection capacity by training volunteers in combat techniques and integrated fire management, carrying out educational campaigns and increasing monitoring capacity to support inspection actions.

INTERVENTION RATIONALE

The project fits into the component 2 of the Amazon Fund’s Logical Framework, “Monitoring and Control”.

[1]https://www.fundoamazonia.gov.br/export/sites/default/pt/.galleries/documentos/diretrizes_criterios/Criterios_Orientadores_Bombeiros_Militares.pdf

ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED