Struck by a historic drought, entire regions bordering Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil have experienced devastating fires in recent months, devastating forests and wetlands of exceptional biodiversity.
Read also: Biodiversity: "We have no more time to waste"
“
The fires this year are much more numerous.
In Argentina, for example, they have increased by around 170%, which is very serious,
”explains Elisabeth Möhle, researcher in environmental policies at the National University of San Martin (UNSM).
For her, these fires are "
part of a year when mega-fires have multiplied in the Amazon, Australia, California ... and now the Gran Chaco
", the second wooded area in South America after the Amazon. , on the border of the four countries.
Fires "which break all records"
An alligator killed by the Pantanal fires.
MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP
In the first place, long months of unprecedented drought: unheard of for 47 years in the Pantanal, the largest wetland in the world, between Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia.
The Parana River, one of the most powerful on the planet, had never been so low since 1970.
An ideal scenario for fires, fueled by strong winds and temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, to spread with extreme ease, especially since the dry season is the period of burning, a practice still very common in the region, intended to regenerate the soil.
In Paraguay, "
the outbreaks (voluntary or involuntary), at the end of September and the beginning of October, broke all records,
" said Eduardo Mingo, of the National Meteorological Directorate.
According to authorities, the number of fires increased by 46% in 2020.
"Ashes deserts"
Without the usual rainfall that floods the land, wetlands have suffered particularly.
In the Brazilian Pantanal, a unique biodiversity sanctuary, images of charred trees, caimans, charred birds and snakes have toured the world.
A quarter of the area was devastated by flames between January and September.
In the Parana delta, another vast wetland and reservoir of biodiversity, fires struck in January with unprecedented intensity, transforming tens of thousands of hectares over the months into “
ash deserts
”.
"
Reptiles died, migrating birds, small mammals, turtles ...
" said Cesar Massi, naturalist in the province of Santa Fe. "
I remember that during the previous drought in 2008, there was fires.
But this year it was stronger, more intense, and more extensive over time,
”he notes.
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