Bolivians call for urgent action as fires rage in Amazon

Hundreds of people took to the streets of La Paz on Sunday, August 25, to protest what they say is "too little too late" from the Bolivian government and international community in addressing Bolivia's wildfires.

Earlier on Sunday, Bolivian President Evo Morales said he would welcome aid in fighting his own country's fires, which have scorched about 3,475 square miles (900,000 hectares). Morales said at a news conference that he had accepted offers of assistance from the leaders of Spain, Chile and Paraguay.

Most of the damage has been in the forests of the Chiquitanía region over the past two weeks, but fires have also burned in Bolivia's Amazon region.

Bolivia late last week contracted a Boeing 747 "Supertanker" from the United States to help with the fire-fighting, and has mobilized more than 2,000 firefighters, as well as small aircraft and helicopters. But the area affected by wildfire has nonetheless nearly doubled since Thursday. The Amazon basin's vast forests are widely seen by scientists as a buffer against climate change.

Bolivia's portion of the Amazon, while not as extensive, remains heavily forested. The Andean nation is one of the poorest in the western hemisphere but one of the richest in biodiversity.

(Source: AP)

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