News

Monday 3 February 2025

The Capivari Solidarity Brigade is a group of firefighting volunteers from local rural communities in Capivari, Brazil. Located near the Pico do Itambé State Park, home of a rare species of frog, the community brigade fights fires that threaten the species' habitat.  

Only found within 0.5 sq. km on a mountain top 1,800 metres above sea level, the species was discovered by Bela Barata, Durrell's Saving Amphibians From Extinction (SAFE) Programme Coordinator. The frogs spend their entire life in a plant called a bromeliad, which holds up to two litres of water stored in pockets between each leaf and the central tank. The frogs are particularly vulnerable to fire, as heat destruction to bromeliads affects how much water they can hold. 

In 2015 and 2021, catastrophic fire events greatly impacted the frog's population levels. Through our SAFE programme, we've been working with communities outside of the Park, where fires are more likely to occur, as many of the out-of-control fires that threaten the frog's habitat are originally set to clear and fertilise land used for cattle and flower growing. 

The Capivari Solidarity Brigade was recently formed through funding from Durrell's Rewild Carbon with help from our partner, Instituto Biotropicos, who have been training the community volunteers in firefighting and first aid, legally registering the brigade, and providing equipment. The brigade has a wide range of roles, from firefighters and drivers to cooks and cleaners. This year, we will be working to find a way that this can become a source of income for the volunteers, improving livelihoods and adding increased value to protecting the frogs and the Park.  

Collaborating with local community brigades provides us with a chance to connect people to wildlife conservation and support the control of fires. Additionally, we work with the Park Manager to deliver actions that reduce fire mass, supporting prescribed burnings and habitat management, such as vegetation clearing to create a belt around the frog's habitat to enable fire to escape before it reaches them.

These actions are particularly vital as climate change will likely worsen future fire events. Together, we hope to prevent and fight fires safely and protect the rare frogs from further population decline. 

_{Photos by Michel Becheleni}