Why are there fires in almost all regions of Peru?

( Spanish) –– Gustavo Adrianzén, president of Peru’s Council of Ministers, told reporters on Monday that “with the exception of two regions, Ica and Iquitos, fires have been reported in all regions.”

The Ministry of Health Indian that so far there are 15 people dead, while the Civil Defense Institute (Undecided) claims that more than 2,000 hectares have been destroyed and that Cusco is the most affected region. The institution said that 3,500 professionals are working to control and extinguish the fires.

“The situation could get worse, at the moment we are controlling it,” said Adrianzén, adding that, until Sunday, 222 fires were reported nationwide, the origin of which is “human” according to him, and for this reason, he asked “please, I beg you, to stop the practice of burning grass” to the inhabitants of the areas where the fire is located.

Adrianzén said that for the moment “we are not evaluating” declaring a state of emergency in the affected regions because “we do not yet have such critical reasons,” however, he did not rule out the possibility that such a decision may be taken. The Ombudsman’s Office urged on Saturday to declare a state of emergency “in areas affected by large-scale forest fires.”

On Saturday, President Dina Boluarte, Adrianzén and other ministers monitored the fires from the National Emergency Operations Center (COEN). According to Indeci, 60% of the fires have been controlled.

Manuel Pulgar Vidal, former environment minister and leader of WWF’s climate and energy practice, told : “I think we are in a situation never seen before in terms of the locations, extent, and intensity of these forest fires. Historically, there have been fires in Peru, but never with the magnitude and in so many places at the same time, especially in the Andean forest area rather than in the flat area of ​​the Amazon.”

Although the president of Indeci, General Juan Carlos Urcariegui, said that, from 2021 to date, 1,106 fires have occurred, and that 2022 was the year in which they occurred the most, Pulgar Vidal believes that we still cannot compare what is happening today with that year.

“Fires are still occurring today and we cannot make a comparison with 2022” but “if one looks at satellite images or hot spots and the presence of new fires, I think we have never seen this in the past,” said Pulgar Vidal.

Like Adrianzén, Pulgar Vidal said that “there has always been a very bad cultural practice in Peru, which is slash-and-burn.” Pulgar Vidal referred to other issues, linked to public policies, that influence the increase in slash-and-burn, such as the so-called anti-forestry law because “it regulates deforestation in order to grant a supposed ownership to allow small producers to export to Europe without restrictions. The big excuse is that since Europe has established restrictions for products that do not derive from legal activities or promote deforestation, Congress came up with this law to say: we are going to clean up the ownership and everyone will be able to export,” he said.

Pulgar Vidal says that this “perverse” incentive of the law is added to the invasion to build houses, to sow crops, as well as illegal mining and logging. In Peru “impunity is being promoted for this type of illegal and informal activities,” he said.

In addition, climate change determines “an increase in temperatures, a decrease in humidity, a lot of drought and therefore it is the perfect spark for the forest to ignite” added to winds that “rapidly move the fire,” he said.

In addition to the loss of life, Pulgar Vidal told that there is a loss of “immediate air quality because the smoke not only stays in the forest area, but also goes to the cities.” There is also the “loss of resources derived from a forest” and the reduced forest cover “accentuates climate change” due to higher emissions as a result of burned forests, while the water cycle and biological diversity are also affected.

Adrianzén acknowledged that “we have very limited capabilities” in reference to the aircraft to fight the fires, in addition to the weather conditions; “specifically in Amazonas, where we have active major fire outbreaks, at this moment we have cloud cover, we have smoke, strong winds and this has prevented our aircraft from entering. There are more than four flights that have flown over the area and have had to return,” he said.

But, this Monday, when he was asked about the possibility of requesting international aid, he said that “we have had the opportunity to provide international aid to Ecuador and Bolivia.”

For Pulgar Vidal, Peru has “some of the best forest fire experts in the region” and that, to this day, “it seems that with our equipment we are capable of handling the extinguishing…”. However, he added that the problem is in the small fires “where help is not arriving” and where it is necessary to develop our preventive capacity to help the community, “that is where we are failing and that is why there are deaths,” he said.

Pulgar Vidal also pointed out that forest fires are a regional problem, as they are occurring in several countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, as these countries “promote the expansion of the agricultural frontier and therefore many investors burn the forest to gain access to this land.”