INDIANS FROM THE XINGU RESERVE WALK AMONG CHARRED FARMLAND, 1998-08-31 (photo)

Indians from the Xingu National Park inspect smouldering remains after clearing and burning trees for farming, near their reserve August 29. Brazil's enivornmental institute Ibama declared a "red alert" August 31 as fires advanced to withing 2.5 miles (four km) from the park in the remote Mato Grosso state, where 16 different indigenous groups live in an area bigger than Belgium. Ibama sent 30 firemen to inspect the burning area, a low forest area covering 2.64 milion hectares that stretches across the southern fringe of the Amazon Basin. Fires have soared there as the annual dry season of burning by farmers has been exacerbated by extremely arid condidtions linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon. GN/KM