Beyond controlling deforestation: addressing emerging wildfire risk in rapidly changing landscapes to protect ecosystems and communities in the Brazilian Amazon
File(s)
Author(s)
Valette, Michel
Type
Thesis or dissertation
Abstract
The Amazon rainforest is threatened simultaneously by climate change, deforestation and forest degradation. While deforestation rates have decreased over the last two decades, wildfires remain a major source of environmental degradation, jeopardizing biodiversity, carbon stock and the well-being of local communities. While historically fires were mostly linked to deforestation, they are increasingly driven by climatic and ecological factors altering wildfire risk. In this thesis, I aim to understand processes driving fire regimes across multiple scales and how local landholders perceive and respond to changing wildfire risks. At regional and subregional levels, I used modelling and quantitative analysis to identify drivers of fire regimes and wildfire risks. I complemented this work with local scale analysis, using participatory methods to investigate local fire use and associated knowledge as well as adaptation to changing wildfire risks across three communities of Capoto/Jarina Indigenous land. The results show that fires are becoming increasingly frequent in remote parts of the region, but protected areas and Indigenous lands play a key role in safeguarding remaining forests. While climate change increases wildfire risk over the region, land governance shapes local wildfire risks related to land use change and affects the potential for landholders to adapt to wildfire risk, with Indigenous land experiencing the most stable fire regimes. Indigenous communities of Capoto/Jarina mobilise extensive local ecological knowledge to support their fire use and adapt to changing conditions through a wide array of individual and collective adaptation strategies. These results highlight how the interplay between climatic, ecological and socio-economic factors operating at various scales shape not only fire regimes but also adaptive pathways to changing wildfire risk adopted by local landholders. This thesis demonstrates the importance of cross-scalar research efforts and the integration of local fire knowledge for fair and efficient fire management in an increasingly flammable world.
Version
Open Access
Date Issued
2025-06-07
Date Awarded
2025-10-01
Copyright Statement
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC)
License URL
Advisor
Mills, Morena
Mistry, Jayalaxshmi
Sponsor
Leverhulme Trust
Grant Number
RC2018-023
Publisher Department
Centre for Environmental Policy
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)