By aligning policy, science, and Indigenous leadership — and putting practical tools in community hands — the Bunge Foundation demonstrates how prevention becomes partnership, and technology becomes trust.

As Brazil confronts another wildfire season, on the heels of record-breaking fires in 2024, the Bunge Foundation is advancing a systems approach to prevention — combining drone technology, Indigenous knowledge, and cross-sector partnership to protect critical ecosystems and communities nationwide.

Protecting forests and strengthening communities

TheBunge Foundation, which leads Bunge’s social investments in Brazil, focuses its ecosystem work on three pillars: sustainability, diversity, and food security. In collaboration with smallholder farmers and Indigenous communities, the Foundation supports initiatives that preserve biodiversity, strengthen local livelihoods, and build climate resilience.

According toJonas Torralba Batista, Project Coordinator at the Bunge Foundation, the integrated fire management project emerged in response to escalating wildfire events. In 2024 alone, 30.8 million hectares (76.1 million acres) — an area larger than Italy — were affected by fires across Brazil. Forests comprised nearly one third of the total burn area, with 7.7 million hectares destroyed. “These fires don’t respect boundaries,” Jonas notes. “They move from rural areas into Indigenous territories and protected zones, threatening both ecosystems and communities. Integrated management is the only way forward.”

Firefighter Gildimar pilots a drone; Photo by Keiny Andrade – Bunge Foundation

Recognizing the transboundary effects of wildfires — where smoke and fire-related water pollution impact human health and safety, biodiversity, and land stability regardless of political borders — the Bunge Foundation responded to the call to action. Risks from soil erosion, flooding, and desertification — rendering land barren and uninhabitable — inspired the Foundation’s coordinated fire prevention initiative.

From crisis response to prevention

Brazil’s fire management system, anchored in policies led by the Ministry of the Environment and Ibama, the national environmental agency, has evolved thanks to a change in government and the proactive leadership of Minister of the EnvironmentMarina Silva. A landmark law on integrated fire management (2024), followed by new resolutions in 2025, emphasizes prevention and shared responsibility among government, farmers, and conservation organizations.

Indigenous knowledge remains a cornerstone of the Foundation’s fire prevention initiative.

While plans are being developed for stakeholder-specific responsibilities, the Bunge Foundation moved early on prevention, technology, and capacity building. Even as the regulatory framework evolves, the Foundation signed a Cooperative Agreement with Ibama. “We wanted to ensure Indigenous communities are equipped not only to respond to fires but to prevent them,” Jonas explains.

Training Indigenous firefighters in drone technology

A centerpiece of the Foundation’s strategy is a drone training and equipment initiative developed withPrevFogo, the Ibama center responsible for implementing policy on forest fire prevention and suppression. The program trains Indigenous firefighters in drone piloting and geotechnology, with theUniversity of Brasília providing training in geoprocessing for integrated fire management at remote mobile stations. This comprehensive approach enables real-time risk monitoring, hotspot mapping, and more coordinated fire response.

Firefighter Gildimar pilots a drone; Photo by Keiny Andrade – Bunge Foundation

Following a year of preparatory work and permitting, the project launched in April 2025. Bunge has committed to donating 40 drones over five years, along with geospatial technology to establish mobile situation rooms within Indigenous territories. Training at Ibama’s Brasília headquarters blends technical instruction with local ecological knowledge so that modern tools complement traditional practices.

To sustain operations in remote areas, the Foundation supplies ample batteries and lightweight replacement parts. By providing smaller, durable drones in batches, each Indigenous firefighting team has equipment suited to field conditions. On an annual cycle, Bunge updates purchases through an embedded feedback loop to ensure the latest, fit-for-purpose technology is available.

Firefighters evaluate drone images in a tent; Photo by Keiny Andrade – Bunge Foundation

In total, the Bunge Foundation aims to support 40 federal Indigenous firefighting teams, each comprised of 25–30 people, and to establish seven mobile situation rooms. These teams and mobile bases will be embedded across three biomes (Pantanal — wetlands, Cerrado — savannah, and the Brazilian Amazon) and five states (Mato Grosso do Sul — Pantanal; Mato Grosso — Cerrado; Tocantins — Cerrado; Maranhão — Cerrado and Amazônia; Pará — Amazonia).

The initiative has earned strong praise from Ibama, whose representatives highlight how private-sector agility — particularly in acquiring and deploying technology — can accelerate public conservation goals.

Integrating science, policy, and Indigenous leadership

The Bunge Foundation’s approach reflects a broader shift toward integrated fire management, which recognizes that not all fires are destructive. Controlled burns can maintain balance in fire-adapted ecosystems, while fire-sensitive regions — such as parts of the Amazon — require strict protection. By combining scientific data, policy alignment, and local leadership, the program is building a more inclusive prevention framework. Datasets and preventative practices from partners such asMapBiomas, a nonprofit land-use research group, and FAO (FAO —Integrated Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines) inform historical trend analysis and risk mapping.

Flávia Saltini in the Prevfogo monitoring room in Brasília; Photo by Keiny Andrade – Bunge Foundation

Indigenous knowledge remains a cornerstone of the Foundation’s fire prevention initiative. Engaging people whose traditional land management expertise is proven — and who have lived on the land for millennia — provides Indigenous communities with agency. Jonas underscores the deep respect owed to Indigenous firefighters who embrace modern technology to protect the land, often facing great personal risk for the benefit of all.

A model for sustainable collaboration

As global attention turns to COP discussions on climate resilience and biodiversity, the Bunge Foundation’s model shows how corporate social investment can make a tangible contribution to the SDGs — especially SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Looking ahead, Jonas notes that the Foundation plans to expand integrated fire management into additional Indigenous territories and to deepen partnerships with environmental organizations in 2026. “This is not just about technology,” he says. “It’s about respect — for people, for the forest, and for the future we all depend on.”

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