Good fire, bad fire: It depends on who burns

•Fire can be extremely harmful to sensitive ecosystems such as rainforests while in savanna environments maintain the structure and composition.•In savannas fire is a natural component that has shaped the species evolution for thousands of years.•Cerrado is characterized by a large mosaic of fire-sensitive and fire-resilient physiognomies.•Fire exclusion policies in fire-prone ecosystems can trigger fire regimes that are incompatible with biodiversity conservation.•IFM is a purpose of preventing big fires, reducing GHG, creating mosaics of different post-fire ages and supply conditions and resources for biodiversity.