Forest fires affecting areas of the Alto Paraguay department, in the western region or Paraguayan Chaco, on the border with Bolivia, have so far destroyed at least 84,000 hectares, mainly native forests, according to the National Forestry Institute (Infona).
The fires are taking place in the area of the Cerro Chovoreca Natural Monument, a protected wilderness area and national park, which covers approximately 100,000 hectares, but according to authorities, it has not yet been affected.
However, the flames have already reached the Chovoreca Indigenous Community, whose members have already been evacuated and transferred to the capital, Asunción.
According to the authorities’ investigations, the fire had already started on Monday, September 2, on a ranch dedicated to livestock activity and had been caused by the burning of waste produced by deforestation.
In this regard, the head of Infona, Cristina Goralewski, said in a press conference that they are already preparing reports to file a formal complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office and to initiate investigations at the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (Mades).
“We are going to apply urgent measures that allow us to prevent these tragedies from causing more damage. We are going to promote more severe sanctions for those responsible for the fires. It is time to act firmly to protect the health of all Paraguayans and our environment,” said Paraguayan President Santiago Peña on his social media account X.
For his part, the Minister of National Emergency, Arsenio Zárate, reported that the sector is currently under control due to the absence of winds, but the fire is still active, so he requested a contingent of 50 more people to go to the area with Paraguayan Air Force aircraft.
He said that to date, around 100 people have been deployed in the affected area, including volunteer firefighters from various companies, military agents and personnel from the National Emergency Secretariat (SEN), in addition to the support of mobile health units.
The Ministry of Health reported that so far no injuries have been reported from the fire, although exposure to smoke has caused health problems for about 100 people living in the affected area.
