Bogotá, Feb 6 (Prensa Latina) The Ministry of the Environment and the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management of Colombia today seek new strategies to control and liquidate forest fires and call to avoid them.
Burning in agricultural areas, carelessness and illicit activities that seek land grabbing or deforestation purposes are some of the causes, which are exacerbated in the current dry season, the ministry said.
According to the most recent report of the National Crisis Room, from December 16, 2021 and until Friday, February 4, 301 forest fires were treated in 142 municipalities of 20 departments.
Of these events, 291 were liquidated thanks to the work of the National Fire Department together with other entities.
The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management specified that more than 86,800 hectares were affected by the fire, and the departments of Vichada, La Guajira, Caquetá, Córdoba and Bolívar are the ones with the largest damaged area.
Meanwhile, Meta, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Casanare and Santander, are the departments that registered the highest number of forest fires throughout the season.
According to the report, 597 municipalities register some type of alert against forest fires, 550 with the maximum alert in the red state, 38 with orange and another nine with yellow.
Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Santander and Norte de Santander, Bolívar, Meta and Magdalena are the departments with the most municipalities on red alert.
The ministry stressed that in this 2022 the largest number of hot spots in recent years has been presented in the Colombian Amazon.
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