Reportagens

Struggling to escape irrigation canals until dying

Experts call for inspections and urgent measures to prevent wildlife drownings across western Brazilian state of Bahia

Aldem Bourscheit ·
4 de fevereiro de 2025

Mega agricultural hub in northeastern Brazil remains untouched by actions to prevent wildlife deaths in irrigation systems. Water canals and reservoirs near protected areas and water permits in conservation priority zones intensify threats to wildlife.

“Upon arriving at the site, a strong smell of carrion was immediately noticeable, which led the team to an area with disturbed soil and partially buried pieces of tarpaulin, leading to the belief that it was a hiding place for carcasses”. 

It may sound like a police investigation series, but the scene is described in a report by federal environmental agents on animals drowned in irrigation canals in western Bahia state. Once out of the water, the remains were burned and buried.

In the region, one of the largest agribusiness hubs in the country, farms have canals lined with smooth plastic. Trying to cross them or drink water, animals fall and struggle to escape the slippery traps, agonizing to death.

Drowned animals in irrigation canals. Photos: ICMBio/Winter Operation Report 2024

Inefficient measures

The document obtained by the ((o))eco recalls that the farms were fined and notified by the state government to implement measures and prevent further deaths. But “little, if anything, had been done,” states the federal report, from last June.

Mesh fencings meant to isolate sections of the canals were either fallen or damaged. In addition, they can be crossed by small species, such as rodents, or jumped over by larger ones, like the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus). With fur similar to that of foxes, the elegant canine lives free only in South America.

“Protective measures for wildlife are not truly required or monitored by the government,” says Rodrigo Gerhardt, manager of the Wildlife Campaign at the NGO World Animal Protection in Brazil (WAP).  

Marks of animals trying to escape from a plastic-lined irrigation canal. Photo: Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio – Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade)/Winter Operation Report 2024

The concerns don’t stop there. The four inspected farms are located just north of the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park. Located between Minas Gerais and Bahia states, it is one of the largest reserves of the Cerrado, the Brazilian savanna. 

Three maned wolves drowned in those irrigation canals, from June to August 2023, accounted for up to 40% of their regional population. The species is at risk of extinction in Brazil. ((o))eco was a pioneer in revealing these deaths.

The victims were a mother and her two young offsprings – Nhorinhá, Formoso, and Urucuia. They were only found because they were being tracked by radio collars from the NGO Onçafari Association, which works with research, conservation, and ecotourism involving wildlife species.

Several other animals also lost their lives in those waters, including the also endangered six-banded armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus), pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo), and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), besides rodents, and various other species.

This lethal scenario for wildlife calls for energetic measures, says Maria Dalce Ricas, executive director of the Minas Gerais Association for Environmental Defense (AMDA – Associação Mineira de Defesa do Ambiente), a NGO that has been working to reconcile rural production and conservation since 1978. 

“What is happening on the farms is illegal and unconstitutional. It is essential to monitor and take action against the death of wildlife in irrigation systems throughout western Bahia,” she warns. 

The ((o))eco found out that federal environmental agents returned to rural properties in that region of Bahia in last December and noted that their canals and water reservoirs continued to pose a threat to wildlife.

Widespread risks

Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas / Wikiparques
Grande Sertão Veredas National Park. Photo: Wikiparques

The Grande Sertão Veredas National Park is one of the few reserves with stricter environmental protection in the region, along with the Veredas do Oeste Baiano Wildlife Refuge and the Rio Preto and Serra Geral do Tocantins ecological stations. All are essential for wildlife.

However, animals are not restricted to these and other legally protected areas in Brazil, such as riverbanks and springs. They roam all over western Bahia, where they casually come across reservoirs and water canals. 

These “artificial rivers” can attract wildlife in a semi-arid region where native vegetation is replaced by vast crops, primarily of corn, cotton, and soybeans – the most exported grain by Bahia and Brazil.

Threats to wildlife are increasing because half of the water permits for irrigation are granted in areas, mapped by the Brazilian federal government, with extremely high priority for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

The analysis is from the NGO Earth Hands Institute (Imaterra – Instituto Mãos da Terra) and the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA – Universidade Federal da Bahia), supported by the NGOs WWF-Brasil and Institute for Society, Population, and Nature (ISPN – Instituto Sociedade, População e Natureza).

“It’s an extremely critical situation for native wildlife”, summarizes Margareth Maia, director of Imaterra and a PhD in Ecology from UFBA.

The study also points out the lack of programs for the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of wildlife in state permits for deforestation in the agricultural hub, as required by Bahia and federal laws.

“The damage to wildlife caused by the suppression of native vegetation is being neglected”, emphasizes Maia.

For Rodrigo Gerhardt (World Animal Protection in Brazil), drownings in open irrigation canals and reservoirs highlight how public policies overlook the protection of wildlife.

“Conserving wildlife is essential for maintaining and restoring forests and other natural environments. What is in environmental legislation needs to reach the territories”, says the expert.


The scenario of vast reservoirs (large ponds) and irrigation canals lined with plastic in western Bahia. Photo: ICMBio/Winter Operation Report 2024


Part of one of the farms with reservoirs (blue circles), canals, and irrigation pivots (bigger circles) near the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park. Image: Google Earth


Irrigated crops predominate in the western plateaus of the state of Bahia. Image: Google Earth

Licensing machine

The western region of Bahia covers 171,000 km², almost the size of Uruguay or the Brazilian state of Paraná. Farms dominate the plateaus of this portion of the Cerrado, a biome that accounts for 80% of the deforestation authorized by the Government of Bahia. There are also Atlantic Forest and Caatinga biomes in that state.

In that area, western Bahia, 17 billion liters of water per day, granted solely in the basins of the Grande, Corrente, and Carinhanha rivers, are almost entirely allocated for irrigation, according to a report from Imaterra and UFBA. This amount would be enough to supply 100 million people.

Currently, Bahia, Minas Gerais, and Goiás states account for the largest irrigated area with center-pivot systems in the country, representing 64% of the national total of these systems. The data comes from MapBiomas, a platform that monitors changes in land and water use. Moreover, there seems to be facilitation for deforestation. 

From September 2007 to June 2021, the Government of Bahia allowed the elimination of nearly 10,000 km2 of vegetation across the state. In the western region of Bahia, Imaterra, and UFBA found alleged irregularities in the actions of 26 farms, such as deforestation beyond what was authorized and even in legally protected areas.

For Margareth Maia (Imaterra), the mass issuance of permits for natural vegetation removal and water use by the Bahia Government contributes to increasing conflicts and socio-environmental damage. “This is a state public policy”, they say.

Responsible for implementing public policies to protect water, climate, and biodiversity in Bahia, the Institute of Environment and Water Resources (Inema – Instituto do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos) did not provide information on measures to prevent the drowning of wildlife or address the alleged deviations in deforestation and water use permits.

  • Aldem Bourscheit

    Jornalista cobrindo há mais de duas décadas temas como Conservação da Natureza, Crimes contra a Vida Selvagem, Ciência, Agron...

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