Peru region near Ecuador asks to declare emergency due to active forest fires for 5 days

A Peruvian region bordering Ecuador on Thursday asked the central government to declare an emergency in two provinces under its jurisdiction to receive help from specialized military aircraft that drop thousands of liters of water from the air and thus extinguish seven forest fires that have been active for more than five days.

The governor of the Cajamarca region, Roger Guevara, said at a press conference that the central government has not yet responded to his request, which was made official on Monday.

He added that the Defense Ministry had told them that if they wanted the aircraft to arrive, they would have to cover the operating costs of around $4,000 per hour, and they do not have that money. The Defense Ministry denied the allegations and told AP that it does not know “where this information comes from.”

“We will take this issue to the president and the prime minister, who need ministers with answers” to the governors’ requests, said Guevara, from the Somos Perú political party, which is different from that of the president Dina Boluarte.

Fiorella Alvarado, regional director for Cajamarca at the national defense office, told AP that there are seven active fires in the provinces of Jaén and San Ignacio, bordering Ecuador, which have consumed at least 2,599 hectares (6,500 acres) in remote areas.

The strongest fire is located in the district of San José del Alto, where there is a nature reserve and is habitat for species such as the Andean tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus).

Last week, Peru sent four aircraft to help fight a forest fire on a hill in the rural area of ​​Quilanga, in the province of Loja, Ecuador.

Jorge Zárate, a 35-year-old farmer and resident of the El Porvenir hamlet in the San José del Alto district, told AP by phone that he was about 20 meters (65 feet) from the fire and that nearly two dozen coffee, banana and passion fruit farmers were shoveling dirt, but “even the dirt itself is on fire because there are dry roots.”

“This is hell itself, the hills are spitting fire and even the green branches of the trees are burning,” said Zárate, father of four minors, who said that the hamlet of more than 500 inhabitants feels “abandoned by all the authorities, from the district to President Dina Boluarte.”

He said that the president prefers to send aid to other countries to put out fires and “forgets about the farmers.”

The school in the El Porvenir hamlet suspended classes because “the air was unbreathable” and some students had fainted, according to Zárate.

“We are all wearing masks, with red eyes, watching how the fire destroys the fields of yucca, bananas, coffee, passion fruit, and we don’t know what we are going to eat for the rest of the days. We live so far away that nobody helps us,” he said.

Earlier, the National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) — an entity that prevents disasters affecting forest heritage by monitoring deforestation and forest fires — informed the AP that between January and July, 4,140 forest fires had been recorded, affecting 70,000 hectares. In the first half of 2023, there were 2,234 forest fires.

Peruvian authorities say 98% of forest fires are caused by human activities. “Burning stubble to prepare the land for new crops and burning Andean grasslands to obtain tender grass for livestock are common practices that must be addressed,” said Romina Liza, a Forest Fire Monitoring and Management specialist at SERFOR.

Liza said the effects of climate change are intensifying the conditions that facilitate the spread of fire. “Extremely strong winds and prolonged droughts dry out vegetation, turning it into highly flammable fuel. This allows fire to spread rapidly,” she said.

The consequences of forest fires They cause loss of biodiversity, degradation of ecosystems, risk to human life, economic losses and a worsening of climate change, according to SERFOR.

On Thursday, at least 15 forest fires were reported across Peru. In 2023, there have been a total of 9,834 forest fires, according to official data.

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