Huge fires have been ravaging hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops and pastures for several weeks in the province of Corrientes, in the northeast of Argentina, causing serious environmental damage and heavy economic losses, according to experts and authorities. .
The latest report from the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), dated February 7, estimates that 520,000 hectares of pasture and crops, or about 6% of the province's territory, have been affected.
The fire progresses every day, consuming thousands of hectares, and the smoke released does not allow updated satellite measurements.
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“It is consumed at the rate of 20,000 hectares per day, we must be at 700,000 hectares today. There are no historical precedents,”
Nicolas Carlino, breeder member of the Confederation of Agricultural and Livestock Cooperatives of Corrientes (Coninagro), told AFP.
The organization estimated on Tuesday that at least $4.2 million was lost in traditional yerba mate cultivation, $44.6 million in rice cultivation, and at least 70,000 head of cattle. were killed.
The National Fire Management Service said Wednesday that firefighters, with support from the Army and Air Force, were battling six active mega-fires.
The first fires reported in mid-December spread due to an extreme drought that appeared in mid-November.
The province of Corrientes, located between the Parana and Uruguay rivers, currently records rainfall of 10 to 15 millimeters, while the average for the season is 200 millimeters.
The humidity in the air is only 15% whereas traditionally it is around 70%, notes Nicolas Carlino.
The National Weather Service expects only light rain from Sunday.
A Corrientes environmental defender, Luis Martinez, blamed
“deforestation, desertification and poor land use, which today combine with a new rainfall pattern due to climate change”.
He castigated
the “recklessness”
of burning to renew pastures, which went unchecked and spread the fires.
According to Luis Martinez, Corrientes has already lost 60% of its wetlands, 40% of its grasslands and some 23,000 hectares of native forests.
He said he fears the impact of these fires on wild animals and certain species of birds and reptiles which will be on the verge of extinction.