Much of the problem is caused by controlled burning authorized to prepare soils for planting and grazing.
Bolivia is suffering a large number of forest fires so far this year, affecting millions of hectares. Experts assured that this ”environmental crisis” will mean that what was lost cannot be recovered.
According to official data In October, forest fires devastated a total of 9.8 million hectareswith Santa Cruz, the largest region in the country, being the most affected. Below that line, the director of the Tierra Foundation, Juan Pablo Chumaceroissued statements in this regard, warning about the situation in Bolivia.
“If we look at the national level, it means that at least There are 12 million hectares and it is most likely that there will be 13 or 14 million… We estimate that the figure is going to be large“, he stated. And he added: “I don’t think we are in a position to talk about recovering everything lost. The truth and most likely is that “What has been lost may never be recovered.”.
They warn of ”irreversible” damage
Likewise, the member of the Amazon Forest Research Institute of the Autonomous University of Beni José Ballivián, Vincent Vosdescribed the situation as ”the greatest environmental crisis” in the history of Bolivia: “If some 6 million hectares of forest were burned and we assume 300 trees per hectare, we will be talking about 1.8 billion trees burned.” In addition, he explained that the area affected by the fire is three times larger than the surface of the Netherlands, his native country.
In this way, he described the damage as ”irreversible”, and highlighted: “We can assume that this year at least 10 million mammals, tens of millions of vertebrates and billions of insects and other invertebrates.” Along these lines, he commented that the species that managed to escape lost their natural habitat “forever.”
Returning to the official data, President Luis Arce announced that he will declare an environmental pause for 10 years in all areas of the Amazon that were devastated by the fire, that is, Burning authorizations will no longer be given for planting or agricultural work. On the other hand, Chumacero believes that it is ”difficult” for this to be done given the history of non-compliance recorded in the region.
Source: Ambito
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