LIMA, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Peruvian President Dina Bolarte on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in three regions affected by devastating forest fires that have burned swaths of farmland in the Andes and Amazon, killing 16 people. declared.
He said the heavily forested northern regions of Amazonas, San Martín and Ucayali would be subject to new emergency measures following multiple requests from local authorities to allocate more resources to fighting the fires. That’s what it means.
According to data from Peru’s Ministry of the Environment, forest fires occur frequently in Peru from August to November, and the main cause is the burning of dry grasslands to expand the agricultural frontier, and in some cases, the destruction of land. This was done by a smuggler.
Bolarte called on rural communities to stop burning grasslands as thousands of hectares have been burned, but noted that the fires are also a result of lack of rainfall due to climate change.
Speaking at the Government Palace, the president said Peru had recorded 238 fires in most regions, about 80% of which were “under control.”
Governor Ucayali had earlier requested military aircraft to assist firefighters and volunteers in fighting the blaze, which has spread over rugged and inaccessible terrain and is damaging the region’s palm and cocoa crops.
Satellite data analyzed earlier this month by Brazil’s Space Research Agency recorded a record 346,112 fire hotspots across South America so far this year, surpassing 2007 hotspots in a data series dating back to 1998. The record of 345,322 pieces was surpassed.
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Report by Marco Aquino. Written by Sarah Morland. Editing: Brendan O’Boyle and Alistair Bell
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