"There are no more hands left, please declare a national disaster"the cry of a volunteer firefighter to the Bolivian Government

“On behalf of all the volunteer firefighters who are working at the site, on behalf of the park rangers, on behalf of the children and the people who today breathe smoke in that area. “Please, we ask you to declare a national disaster,” a firefighter cried in tears to the Minister of Environment and Water, Alan Lisperguer Rosales.

The volunteer was part of the audience at a meeting held by the national authority with other representatives, but she did not hesitate to raise her hand and speak directly and face to face with the minister.

“Do not let the atlas be just another book for our children, be the voice of those of us who are fighting up close and in front of the fire today. Please, there are four million hectares, thousands of dead animals, without water there is no life, without forests there is no water, there is nothing. “Our hands are not enough, please …

In response to the woman’s request, the minister replied that “first, we have to have clear information, we cannot say 4 million (hectares) guaranteed, Each institution can release any data, but we are doing serious and responsible work.”.

Lisperguer was referring to the data issued daily by the National Fire Monitoring Centre on the number of active fires in each department and municipality and even the amount of forest and grassland consumed. Although these data contradict those presented by the Tierra Foundation.

The latter agency claims that more than 4 million hectares have been burned. Santa Cruz with 2.6 million hectares, Beni with 1.3 million hectares and La Paz with 18,990 hectares.

Unfortunately, in both cases it is evident that a large part of the active fires are concentrated in Santa Cruz, with 53 fires detected affecting 15 different municipalities.