Global Courant 2023-04-19 11:06:13
Regrettable, recurring and highly suspicious tragedy constitutes the annual streak of forest fires in Guatemala. Certain cases could be explained due to a spontaneous combination of factors associated with the dry season between February and April, but the vast majority of fires are due to negligence and fraud. The first include poorly carried out clearing, unextinguished bonfires, cigarette butts or combustion of illegal garbage dumps; but there are also malicious actions such as trying to force the change of use of forest land to convert them into pastures or fields, as well as the opening of clandestine runways for landing drug planes.
In the long run, in all cases there is a general damage because the forest mass of the country continues to be rapidly lost, especially in “protected” areas, whose conservation has considerable ecotourism and environmental value for the majority, but not for organized mafias. For this reason, the pattern of forest fires in areas such as Laguna del Tigre or Sierra del Lacandón, remote regions, under the care of the State, where there is little or no police surveillance, which makes them attractive for the action of these sheaves, draws our attention. .
Between November and last April 12, 495 fires had been registered and fought, 399 of which are considered forest fires in the national territory. The most affected department is Quiché, with 1,467 hectares consumed. Until the mentioned date there were 35 active fires. Some occur in ravines and areas close to urban centers, which are sometimes attempted to be converted into settlements. In both cases, the deterioration of the green belt is the inevitable consequence.
From two to 10 years in prison can be the sanction for the crime of forest fire; however, very rarely has a precedent-setting conviction been achieved. In any case, the best policy should be prevention and education about the collective damage caused by the destruction of forests.
The underlying problem is that in two decades almost a fifth of Guatemala’s vegetation cover has been lost. In 2001, 4.5 million hectares of forest were registered and five years ago, the most recent data available, there were 3.5 million hectares. It might seem that there is still a forest remnant, but it is likely that it has already been reduced even more, especially since many of these fires cover a relatively small area, but whose frequency and dispersion add great damage, without a report to date. royal official on the country’s forest cover. Forest firefighters and brigades of soldiers fight the fires, sometimes accompanied by helicopters equipped with “bambi-bucket” devices to take water from nearby bodies of water, if any, to put out the flames. In many cases, gaps can only be breached in the hope of cutting off combustion.
It is sad that in a country whose name, etymologically, is usually associated with the meaning of “country of trees”, centuries-old forests perish due to carelessness and impunity. Little is reflected in society about the impact on ecosystems, the disappearance of fauna species and the decrease in water retention in the soil, which results in practically dry rivers that 20 years ago were a warning and today are the reality suffered for many communities. Forest fires are not someone else’s problem, they affect us all and especially our children.
We all pay for burned forests
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