The 104 specialists who make up the Brazilian humanitarian mission to support the fight against forest fires in Canada left today, July 21, from Brasilia Air Base, heading for Canada. The Brazilian specialists boarded shortly after a brief ceremony at the scene, from where the aircraft chartered by Canada for the Canadian municipality of British Columbia departed. The mission should last 30 days.

Ambassador Luiza Lopes, deputy director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the institution responsible for coordinating the humanitarian mission in Canada, recalled that Brazilian cooperation works in a circular fashion. “Many of the professionals present here have already received training from other countries and now they return the favor with this humanitarian action, of which we are very proud”said the diplomat.

The Chargé d’Affaires of the Canadian Embassy in Brazil, Simon Cridland, underlined that he could not be more convinced that our country is a true partner of Canada. “This initiative represents the largest Brazilian humanitarian aid mission in history and demonstrates the importance that Brazil attaches to our bilateral relations, as well as the commitment to help friendly nations in the preservation of the environment and in the response to climate change.”he repeated.

President of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), Mauro Pires, said Brazilian institutions support a country that needs help right now, stressing that climate change and natural phenomena have no borders. “This is a moment of responsibility and it will be essential that all who embark from now on have confidence in their professionalism and support each other to return safely.”

The president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, underlined the professionalism of the members of the brigade of the Institute. “We have been given the task of working on the ground in Canada with the other institutions present here and I have no doubt that Prevfogo currently has the best members of the brigade in the country on its staff”rented.

Diversity

Of the 104 forest firefighting specialists sent by Brazil, 15 brigade members and five servants are from (ICMBio). The Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) assigned 41 members of the brigade of the National Center for Prevention and Fight against Forest Fires (Prevfogo) to work in Canada. In the group there are ten members of the quilombola brigade, from the state of Goiás, and nine members of the indigenous brigade from the Xerente ethnic group, from Tocantins.

Eduardo Xerente said it was the first international experience for the indigenous group and everyone was very proud to represent Brazil and to be able to help. Xerente reiterated that he expects challenges in fighting wildfires in Canada, as conditions in the northern hemisphere country are quite different from those found in Brazil.

Representatives of the National Secretariat for Civil Protection and Defense, the Ministry of Integration and Territorial Planning (MIDR) and the National Public Security Force (FNSP) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) also embarked. Both brigades will be made up of military firefighters nominated by 20 state and federal district military fire brigades. The military firefighters participating in the mission have extensive experience and technical training in fighting wildfires, disasters and emergencies.