The Pantanal faced an unprecedented drought event in 2020. The hydrological year ended in July, 2020 had an annual average rainfall 26% lower than the average from 1982 to 2020. Consequently, catastrophic wildfires burned out of control. Active fires during this year have also increased, and were 123% higher than the 2002-2020 Pantanal’s average. Approximately 95% of these active fires occurred in natural land covers with 28% of them occurring in areas classified as wetlands that likely dried out due to the drought. Therefore, the development of a special policy is needed to minimize the impact of this crisis on the biodiversity, conservation, and traditional people of the Pantanal.