'Murderer of nature': Evo Morales blamed as Bolivia battles devastating fires
Source: The Guardian
'Murderer of nature': Evo Morales blamed as Bolivia battles devastating fires
Furious locals say president is culpable over unprecedented destruction of wildlife
by Dan Collyns in La Chiquitanía
Mon 2 Sep 2019 05.00 BST
Runy Callaú can’t remember how many nights he has been fighting the blaze which has engulfed huge swathes of forest. Nor can he stop thinking about his encounter with a fleeing jaguar a few nights before.
“It was running for its life,” said the firefighter captain, peering out from under his yellow hard hat. “It was in a state of sheer terror.”
The jaguar is a feared but rarely sighted inhabitant of the Chiquitano dry forest, the unique ecosystem sandwiched between the Amazon and the Gran Chaco that has borne the brunt of weeks of fires in eastern Bolivia. At least 1.2m hectares (3m acres) have been destroyed.
All the volunteer firefighters report seeing terrified and burned animals: pacas, wild pigs, armadillos, tapirs and many bird species. On one occasion a rattlesnake climbed up Callaú’s leg before he kicked it away. “I caught my breath and realised it thought my leg was a tree,” he said. “It was just trying to get away.”
Thousands of fires swept through eastern Bolivia in August, to the fury of environmentalists and locals who accused the country’s president, Evo Morales, of incentivising the blazes after he passed legislation in July that encourages slash-and-burn farming to create pasture and arable land. Morales, who is running for a controversial fourth term of office, has refused to rescind the decree. His government says high winds and dry conditions are to blame for the worst fires in living memory.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/02/bolivia-evo-morales-wildfires-chiquitano