Bolivia: concerned as forest fires continue and escalate

Text by: RFI Follow

While the whole planet is worried about the coronavirus pandemic, environmentalists in Bolivia are worried about the forests, which despite a country almost at a standstill, continue to be burned, by farmers to clear land. And the number of fires is very worrying, well above last year's figures.

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with our correspondent in La Paz, Alice Campaignolle

"  Quarantine for forests  " is the plea of ​​several dozen Bolivian environmental associations in April. A recent study published by the Ministry of the Environment shows that on April 19, 2020, there were some 600 more fire fires than on the same date in 2019.

Today there are 3,678 fires in the Bolivian forests, part of which is located in the Amazon. And the activists are worried. They therefore appeal to the government to whom they have left a letter, to react to this ecological emergency.

"  We are very concerned about this situation, explains Manuel Morales of the Conade association,  and that is why we are asking the government to impose a quarantine on forests and to repeal the 'incendiary laws'.  "

Activistas e instituciones ratifican la necesidad de abrogar normas de quemas ante inicio de Eachos https://t.co/riLDIPSS24 vía @noticiasfides

What environmentalists call "incendiary laws" are these decrees signed by ex-president Evo Morales last July, decrees allowing land clearing by fire, to extend agricultural areas.

All fear the same scenario as last year, where 5 million hectares of forest went up in smoke in Bolivia, turning the whole earth upside down. And to alert the population, the associations ask that be done, as the victims of the Covid-19 are counted every day, the same daily report on television of the number of fires.

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