Regional politician Luis Fernando Camacho explained that the drought and fires affected five of the country’s nine administrative areas: Santa Cruz, Beni in the northeast of the country, Pando in the north, Chuquisaca in the southeast and Tarija in the south.
Because of the high temperatures, several fires have merged into major fires. For the next ten to 15 days, no rain is expected in the fire areas, said Camacho.
According to the environmental organization Fundacion Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN), 2.3 million hectares of forest and pastureland burned down in Bolivia from January to the penultimate week of September. Deforestation and high temperatures are contributing to the fires in the South American country. Last year, according to FAN, severe fires raged in the Bolivian Amazon region, which destroyed 6.4 million hectares of land.
