Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) of South America have developed complex fire use systems for over 10,000 years that go beyond basic needs like warmth, cooking, and socializing. These practices evolved into sophisticated techniques for creating pyrobiocultural landscapes, polyculture agriculture, plant domestication, resource acquisition, soil enhancement, territory protection and cleaning, and spiritual and aesthetic purposes. Drawing from scientific literature and fieldwork, we demonstrate that these communities have used fire in diverse and complex ways to achieve multiple benefits across a wide range of ecosystems—from savannas and grasslands to fire-sensitive tropical and template forests that have not evolved with high fire exposure. Paradoxically, despite South America having an outstanding cultural diversity of Indigenous groups and substantial evidence supporting traditional fire management practices, current policies often ignore or prohibit them. Instead, “zero-fire” approaches have been promoted. Some of these policies persist despite their limited effectiveness, controversial outcomes in conservation and ecology, and increased socio-environmental risks, especially under climate and land-use changes. We argue that developing more holistic, effective, and equitable fire management policies requires the inclusion of diverse perspectives and revitalizing Indigenous and local traditional fire knowledge and adaptive practices that have sustainably managed South American landscapes for millennia.