LA PAZ – Forest fires consumed more than 147,000ha in Santa Cruz, eastern Bolivia, this year, reported the regional government yesterday.
As in neighbouring Brazil, the blazes are aggravated by widespread deforestation aimed at expanding farming or pasture land.
The infernos come in a year when climate change has become an increasingly urgent issue, with mammoth wildfires in the United States, Greece and Turkey.
“At a departmental level, 147,254ha have been affected by forest fires,” announced Santa Cruz Forest Fire Programme coordinator Yovenka Rosado.
The most severely affected areas border Brazil.
Rosado said a Super Puma helicopter is being used to douse the larger fire sites with water, and emergency personnel and equipment are being deployed to key spots.
She said so far, 831 fires had been reported just in the first days of August, for a total of 15,555 this year.
Each year, Bolivia confronts forest fire outbreaks started by settlers in remote areas or agribusinesses trying to expand their production.
The Friends of Nature Foundation non-governmental organisation estimates that forest fires destroyed more than 2.3 million hectares of forests and grassland last year.
In 2019, huge blazes in Bolivia’s Amazon destroyed about 6.4 million hectares, said the group. – AFP, August 8, 2021
