The map of Argentina, displayed on four large screens, has found some green colors. Early September, “Much of central and northern Argentina was bright red”, says Gustavo Fernandez, who oversees the security ministry’s emergency alert and monitoring system. From this crisis room, the government is monitoring live the evolution of the fires that ravaged the heart of the country during the southern winter.
According to the estimates of environmental protection associations, nearly 350,000 hectares of wetland have been affected by fires in the Parana delta area (northeast), a territory with very rich biodiversity. At least 48,000 hectares of forests and meadows were also burned in Cordoba (center). Most fires are now under control, but “The province of Cordoba has lost a good part of its virgin forest, it is a real tragedy”, denounces Ana Di Pangracio, deputy executive director of the Argentine NGO Foundation for the Environment and Natural Resources (FARN).
The fires are 95% man-made, according to the government. “Those who trigger them have various objectives: to free land for intensive livestock farming, or to eliminate the wetland and convert it to fertile and arable land. In other cases, there is an intention to deforest to make way for real estate projects ”, lists Sergio Federovisky, Deputy Minister of the Environment.
“Nothing was done in 2019”
The problem is recurrent: every year, fires, mostly illegal, destroy the important biodiversity of this country as large as five times the size of France. But this year, the situation has taken on a scale not seen since 2008. “We are going through a historic drought [après une année 2019 marquée par de fortes pluies et des inondations], the Parana river is also particularly low… These climatic conditions make that the fires can more easily get out of control. We warned the authorities of this risk ”, points out Ana Di Pangracio.
The center-left government, in power since December 2019, cites failures in the management of the previous administration (of center-right president Mauricio Macri, 2015-2019). “What has prevailed in fighting fires for the past four years is the response when they have already started. However, a decisive part of the response depends on prevention. Unfortunately, nothing was done in 2019 to avoid this situation ”, says Sergio Federovisky.
You have 52.44% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
