Bolivia loses 1.2 million ha (3.2 million acres) of forest land this year as wildfires continue

Forest fires continue raging across Bolivia's forests, damaging almost 1.2 million hectares (3.2 million acres) of land this year.

The municipalities of Ascensión, Concepción, El Puente, San Antonio de Lomerío, San José, and San Miguel (Santa Cruz Department) is where the highest concentration of fires are in, AFP reports.

The Government of Santa Cruz reported that about 8 330 forest fires have been noted just for the month of August 2019. Moreover, 35 new fires were recorded on August 28.

Over 1 800 families were affected by the fire. Impacted areas have issued an evacuation notice to residents, leading 40 to move. Furthermore, national authorities continue carrying out emergency response operations. International organizations also began extending assistance in extinguishing the fires.

Southern Beni and Santa Cruz Department were put under a high fire danger forecast from August 29 to August 30, 2019. Eastern Bolivia is also forecasted to continue having dry weather conditions for the entire day.

The country's total forest area has been diminishing in the past years. In 2005, the area measured 47.3 million hectares (116.9 million acres). It shrunk to 43.8 million hectares (108.2 million acres) in 2017.

Featured image credit: CGTN