Indigenous leaders say land-grabbers are setting fires inside the Karipuna Indigenous Territory in Brazil’s Rondônia state, in the northwest Amazon. The fires come less than one month after Indigenous leaders warned authorities about renewed invasions.

Satellite monitoring detected more than 90 fire alerts in the territory between Aug. 14 and Aug. 25, according to an analysis by Mongabay using data from Brazil’s space agency, INPE.

“These fires are happening because of land-grabbing,” André Karipuna, the chief of the Karipuna people, told Mongabay in an audio message. “The land-grabber comes in, sections the land into lots, then clears it. First, they cut the smaller vegetation, then bigger trees. They leave it to dry and then set it on fire.”

In July 2024, Brazil’s federal government carried out an operation to dismantle illegal access routes and other structures inside the territory. Officials reported destroying 17 bridges and 38 illegally built roads, but no one was arrested.

Karipuna leaders and the global nonprofit Survival International raised the alarm about increased invasions on the land in late July 2025.

According to Brazil’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, a federal police unit has been alerted. But as of Aug. 26, Karipuna leaders say no help has reached them on the ground.   

“The Federal Police has already been called in and is monitoring fire alerts and other criminal activities in the region,” the ministry wrote to Mongabay by email. “For security reasons, details of these actions remain confidential, but it is important to stress that they are underway and will continue in order to suppress illegal activities, protect the community and ensure the preservation of natural resources.”

Adriano Karipuna, another Karipuna leader, told Mongabay in July that federal agencies had guaranteed monitoring and surveillance of their territory but were not following through. “Because it is not happening, the invaders are coming back again,” he said.

The Karipuna are one of Brazil’s least-populous Indigenous peoples, with only 63 people left, down from thousands before colonization. Their territory is entirely surrounded by cattle ranching farms and logging operations.

Banner image: A forest fire in the Brazilian Amazon in 2022. Image © Nilmar Lage/Greenpeace.