![]() Haze rising from an oil palm plantation and forest in Riau. Fires intervals of less than 20 years may eliminate all trees in the forest stand. Subsequent fires burn with increased velocity and intensity and cause higher tree mortality. Previously burned forests, in addition to having more combustible material, are also often adjacent to fire-maintained pastures and therefore are frequently exposed to sources of ignition. While these fires may seem innocuous, with flames reaching only a few inches in height and having virtually no discernable impact on trees or the canopy itself, they cause insidious damage: in passing, the fire sets the path for recurrent fires and subsequent forest loss.Once-burned forests are twice as likely to be deforested as unburned forests, largely because the initial fires-however small-thin out the canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor, drying out lead litter and setting the stage for future fires. Even in "virgin" forests, fires may burn across hundreds of thousands during dry years. Under dry conditions these agricultural forests can easily spread into neighboring rainforest.Īs a result, small fires are not unusual today in the rainforest. Every year, during the burning season, tens of thousands of fires are set by land speculators, ranchers, plantation owners, and small farmers to clear bush and forest. Today most rainforest fires originate in nearby pasturelands and agricultural fields where fires are used for land clearing and crop and pasture maintenance. The Congo Basin as well is experiencing drying trends and degradation that is resulting in increasingly severe fires in its rainforest. ![]() ![]() Scientists are concerned that much of the Amazon is at risk of burning, and that in the future we could see fires similar to those that so damaged Indonesia in recent el Niño years. Rainforests are increasingly susceptible to forest fires today due to degradation from selective logging, fragmentation, and agricultural activities. Mongabay also does occasional reporting on forest fires outside the tropics: here's the full fire feed Historical context for rainforest fires If you're looking for the latest updates on fires burning in the topics, please look at the following news feeds: Amazon fires, Indonesia fires and rainforest fires. Note: this page presents mostly historical context on fires in tropical rainforests.
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