(Credit: Save the Chiquitanía)
(CNN Spanish) -
The interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez, said on Wednesday that she approved a decree that declares the fires that are raging in various parts of the country a national emergency.
"The attention to the fire as a national emergency will allow us to act without bureaucratic obstacles and mobilizing all the resources so that the fire does not advance, to stop the fire and so that we have the opportunity and the option to take care of our flora and fauna", Áñez said at an event in Santa Cruz.
The interim president also announced the repeal of the regulations issued by former President Evo Morales in July 2019, which gave the green light to controlled burns for agriculture and livestock activities on private and community lands in the departments of Santa Cruz and Beni.
According to the government, some 500,000 hectares are affected by fires.
The department most impacted is Santa Cruz, where the Chiquitanía region is located, an area between the Amazon and the Chaco, which in 2019 was heavily affected by forest fires.
Fires