Fires sparked in forest reserves, farmlands and pastures in Bolivia have affected more than 850,000 hectares, nearly triple what was reported two weeks ago, according to a report released by the government on Sunday (September 11th).
“As of September 10 this year, 854,724 hectares have been burned in the country“, reported the Deputy Minister of Civil Defense, Juan Carlos Calvimontes, interviewed by a state media network. The minister had reported on August 27 that the fires caused to expand agricultural land had affected 299,503 hectares.
Reduce forest destruction
Despite the increases over the past two weeks, “there is a considerable reduction (of arson) compared to previous years“Nevertheless, said Carlos Calvimontes. The government is working to ensure that, over the year, the destruction of forests and pastures does not exceed 1.5 million hectares, he explained. Calvimontes recalled that in 2019 Bolivia registered the fire of 3.5 million hectares, in 2020 of 5.2 million hectares and that in 2021 the figure fell to 4.2 million hectares .
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This year’s fires are recorded in the departments of Santa Cruz (East), Beni (North-East), Tarija (South) and Chuquisaca (South-East). Although the fires are under control for now, he expressed concern about the fire affecting part of the Noel Kempff Mercado (541,200 hectares) and Amboró (636,000 hectares) national parks.