Bolivian farmers flee as wildfires burn woodland

Concepción, In Bolivia's lowland region of Santa Cruz, farmers packed up their belongings this week, putting mattresses, food, and bed frames into trucks in a bid to escape rapidly approaching fires that are among the worst the country has seen. The Southern Hemisphere nation has recorded the largest number of outbreaks of wildfires in 14 years, with 3 million hectares (7.5 million acres) of land burned already this year and peak fire season still ahead. Neighboring Brazil is also suffering a torrid beginning to the season, with blazes in major cities and in the Amazon rainforest off to their worst start in 20 years, after a record drought aggravated by global warming. 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 agency INPE, which monitors fires across the continent. Firefighters have been trying to counter the blazes and evacuate villages as fires have torn through the landscape. A round 3 million hectares have burned as of August and the total figure for 2024 is expected to rise sharply, with the season lasting until December. South America overall is bracing for an intense fire season that usually peaks in August and September before spring rains arrive. Unusually early and intense fires followed a drought that has dried out vegetation in much of the region. With its firefighting teams stretched, Bolivia's government has called for international aid. Indigenous volunteers tried to protect the land they use to grow crops and feed livestock near the Chiquitano forest north of Concepcion that extends towards Brazil and Paraguay. The country has seen major land clearances in the last decade as production of gas, Bolivia's former top export, has dwindled. Instead focus has turned towards crops such as soy and cattle farming, much of which is sent to China. The government has granted more permissions to use slash-and-burn methods to clear land, boosting beef production to a record last year. San Pablo Solon, Climate Policy Specialist, said fines for illegal burning - less than 2 bolivianos (30 U.S. cents) per hectare - are too low. Vice Minister of Defense Juan Carlos Calvimontes confirmed on Wednesday during a press conference that almost 68% of the burned areas were pastures. Source: Bahrain News Agency