Fires in Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas in Bolivia

Since early August 2019, the most widespread and enduring fires in Bolivia’s history have been recorded in the country’s lowlands (Tierras Bajas). Widespread due to the large area burned and enduring because climatic conditions, along with the negligence of the authorities and even of those involved in the conflict themselves (who have risked setting fires in order to prepare the land for cultivation), have combined with some extraordinarily adverse weather conditions to create this situation.

Intensive heat of more than 30°C, dry winds from the south and a prolonged drought have conspired to perpetuate the fires being suffered by the Amazon, Chiquitania and Chaco Boreal areas of Bolivia. According to our sources, as of 29 August some 2.1 million hectares (ha) had been burned throughout Bolivia’s lowlands as a whole. The six regions that make up this area have all been affected by fires.