As An Area Of Bolivia The Size Of Indiana Burned Last Year, Nothing In Its Emergency Response Addressed The Problem
Last year, record wildfires fueled by dry conditions incinerated large swaths of Bolivia’s forests, wetlands and other ecosystems, burning an area larger than the state of Indiana. The blazes decimated ecosystems, affecting thousands of families, many of whom are Indigenous and reliant on forests and waterways for their livelihoods, food, water, culture and medicine.
A new report by Javier Palummo, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ special rapporteur on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, documents the extensive human rights toll of the fires. The sweeping and highly critical review also identifies how the Bolivian government contributed to the dry conditions that created the circumstances for the fires to rage longer and faster than before. According to the analysis, tensions between the national and local governments hindered emergency responses while policies aimed at aggressively expanding industrial agriculture have dried out large areas of the country, leaving ecosystems vulnerable to fire.
According to the analysis, tensions between the national and local governments hindered emergency responses while policies aimed at aggressively expanding industrial agriculture have dried out large areas of the country, leaving ecosystems vulnerable to fire. Those policies included laws that legalized past illegal land clearings, authorized the use of fire in agricultural activities and opened Indigenous territories to intensive agriculture and livestock operations. “The expansion of agribusiness in Bolivia is closely linked to the increase in forest fires and deforestation,” the report said.
Neither Bolivia’s Ministry of Environment and Water nor the country’s consulate in New York responded to requests for comment. But the national government has long championed poor countries’ right to develop while calling on rich countries—the largest contributors to climate change—to provide financial support for developing countries’ conservation efforts. The report follows Palummo’s December visit to Bolivia, where he toured impacted areas and met with government officials, communities and civil society groups.
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26072025/lessons-from-bolivia-record-setting-2024-wildfire-season/
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