EMERGENCY AMAZON FIRE FUND REPORT

The WWF-US Emergency Amazon Fire Fund raised approximately $1.5 million to provide firefighting equipment, medical supplies, and food to local civil society organizations and Indigenous peoples in Brazil and Bolivia following the 2019 fire season. The report highlights a vicious cycle where deforestation and climate change intensify droughts, increasing fire risks and reducing the Amazon's capacity to act as a carbon sink. In Brazil, the fund supported the Victoria Amazon Foundation in the Amazonas region to train brigades and conduct prevention workshops. In Bolivia, the fund provided critical water, food, and medical supplies to remote communities in the Santa Cruz and Chiquitano Dry Forest regions, where fires impacted over 5 million acres of forest and displaced families.

• The 2019 fire season saw a significant increase in activity, with the number of individual fires peaking at 30,901, which was nearly three times the amount recorded in August 2018.
• In 2019, 27,027 square miles burned in the Brazilian Amazon, representing a 14% increase over the previous three-year average, while Bolivia saw 19,305 square miles burned.
• Climate change and deforestation create a feedback loop where intensified droughts increase fire risk; these fires then release stored carbon and diminish the forest's ability to absorb carbon, threatening its role as a carbon sink.
• The Emergency Amazon Fire Fund raised $1,444,149 for direct allocation to partners in Brazil and Bolivia, and an additional $297,381 to support the response capacity of WWF-Brazil and WWF-Bolivia.
• In the Manaus Metropolitan region of Brazil, fires are primarily driven by land clearing for urban expansion—with the city growing over 25% in a decade—as well as for the soybean, livestock, and timber industries.
• In Bolivia, fires impacted over 5 million acres in the Chiquitano Dry Forest region, causing public health crises and economic losses, while 4,472 families were affected and 161 families were forced to evacuate.

APA

WWF International (2020). EMERGENCY AMAZON FIRE FUND REPORT. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/105/1vn3mdspyw_Amazon_Report_March_2020_e.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. EMERGENCY AMAZON FIRE FUND REPORT. 2020. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/105/1vn3mdspyw_Amazon_Report_March_2020_e.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=EMERGENCY AMAZON FIRE FUND REPORT |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/105/1vn3mdspyw_Amazon_Report_March_2020_e.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2020emergency, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{EMERGENCY AMAZON FIRE FUND REPORT}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/105/1vn3mdspyw_Amazon_Report_March_2020_e.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }