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Bolivian farmers leave and flee as wildfires burn forest

In Bolivia's. lowland area of Santa Cruz, farmer Mario Guasasi left his. valuables today, putting bed mattress, food, and bed frames. into a truck in a bid to escape quickly approaching fires that. are among the worst the country has actually seen.

The southern hemisphere country has recorded the biggest. number of break outs of wildfires in 14 years, with 3 million. hectares (7.5 million acres) of land burned currently this year. and peak fire season still ahead.

Surrounding Brazil is likewise suffering a torrid start to. the season, with blazes in significant cities and in the Amazon. rain forest off to their worst start in 20 years, after a record. drought intensified by international warming.

We are leaving because of the fire, Guasasi informed. Reuters outside his home in Concepcion, on the edge of the. Amazon rain forest and one of the worst affected areas of. Bolivia.

We are afraid of the fire getting here. My home might. burn, and then what will we do?

Bolivia has registered 36,800 fire outbreaks so far this. year, second only to a record year for blazes in 2010, according. to satellite data from Brazil's space research company Inpe,. which monitors fires across the continent.

Yellow-suited firemens have been trying to counter the. blazes and evacuate villages as fires have actually torn through the. landscape.

The fire front goes on for miles, stated commander Wilson. Lupa, who heads a firefighting operation, as foliage burned. behind him and smoke rose into the sky.

Milton Villavicencio Duran, who works to restore wooden benches. and statues in churches harmed by the fires, informed Reuters that. at times the smog was so thick the landscape was entirely. obscured.

The sky is covered with smoke, he said.

Around 3 million hectares have burned as of August and the. overall figure for 2024 is expected to rise dramatically, with the. season lasting up until December.

' THE FIRE BURNS EVERYTHING'

South America total is bracing for an intense fire season. that usually peaks in August and September before spring rains. show up. Unusually early and intense fires followed a drought. that has dried out plant life in much of the area.

In Bolivia, walls of flames engulfed tracts of dry land in. Concepcion as a single helicopter overhead utilized a pail to. take on the blazes.

With its firefighting groups stretched, Bolivia's government. has required international help. Indigenous volunteers tried to. secure land they utilize to grow crops and feed livestock near the. Chiquitano forest north of Concepcion that extends towards. Brazil and Paraguay.

We live from farming and now nothing grows, everything. is dry, stated Maria Suarez Moconho, an Indigenous neighborhood. chief who leads the group of volunteers and said conditions were. having a destructive impact on water and food supplies. The. fire burns whatever.

The nation has seen major land clearances in the last. years as production of gas, Bolivia's former leading export, has. dwindled. Instead focus has turned towards crops such as soy and. livestock farming, much of which is sent to China.

The federal government has granted more authorizations to utilize. slash-and-burn approaches to clear land, enhancing beef production. to a record last year, official data show. Fines for unlawful. burning - less than 2 bolivianos (30 U.S. cents) per hectare -. are too low, stated climate policy expert Pablo Solon.

Land development had actually led to a scenario where more and more. land is burned, said Cecilia Requena, an opposition lawmaker. and environmental committee head.

Frequently these become entirely uncontrolled forest fires,. she said.

Vice Minister of Defense Juan Carlos Calvimontes verified. on Wednesday during a press conference that nearly 68% of the. burned locations were pastures. Who burns pasture? You understand this is. from livestock ranching, he stated.

Adalid Ordonez Palachay, parish priest of Concepcion. cathedral, stated the blazes threatened the lowland area's. distinctive wood churches, burning artifacts and buildings.

We reside in continuous threat from the fires, he said.

(source: Reuters)