Bolivia is burning. For months, flames have been consuming huge swathes of forest and pastureland. The situation is now so dramatic that the government has declared a national disaster. What’s behind this ecological catastrophe?
Bolivia's forests and pastures were already devastated by wildfires in 2019, with around 5.9 million hectares affected. This year, 6.9 million hectares have been ravaged by fire - an area almost the size of Ireland, Sierra Leone or Sri Lanka. One contributing factor is deforestation in the Amazon, which is causing more frequent droughts and heatwaves. And while climate change is prolonging the dry seasons, the problem is exacerbated by Bolivia's farmers burning down parts of the forest to provide land for agriculture. Some use slash-and-burn practices out of economic necessity and are unaware of the consequences. Others set fires in areas that do not belong to them in order to farm there illegally, or extract raw materials. The Bolivian government allows these practices to continue, through lax laws and agricultural subsidies that encourage farmers to expand their land.
Indigenous peoples are especially hard hit by land grabbing and the destruction of the forests.
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