Peruvian President Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency on Wednesday (18) in the three regions most affected by the forest fires that are devastating Andean and Amazonian territories. At least 16 people have died in the country.
The densely forested northern regions of Amazonas, San Martín and Ucayali will be under the new emergency measures, Boluarte said, responding to local authorities’ demand for more resources to fight the flames.
Forest fires are frequent in Peru between the months of August and November, largely due to the burning of dry pasture to expand arable land and, in some cases, by squatters, according to the Ministry of the Environment.
The Peruvian prime minister on Monday (16) asked people to stop burning pastures while thousands of hectares were hit by flames.
The governor of Ucayali has asked for the help of military aircraft to support firefighters and volunteers in the task of putting out the fires that have reached difficult-to-access territories and are destroying the region’s palm and cocoa production.
Satellite data from the Brazilian space agency earlier this month showed a record 346,112 fires across South America, surpassing the 2007 record of 345,322, in a historical series that began in 1998.
This content was originally published in Peru declares state of emergency in regions hit by forest fires on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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