Why do wildfires happen repeatedly during the in summer?

In Villa Gesell last week there were forest fires located in dunes facing the sea and the warning has already been raised in the provinces of Neuquén, Rio Negro and Chubut, which generated a meeting between national, provincial and municipal authorities and some managers of the National Parks Administration.

The reality is that threats like these coming from nature and climate are also generated in most cases by the negligence of people as well as by the will and intentionality of human beings.

In the first case, it happens when carelessly throw matches, cigarette butts or cans and glass that can act as magnifying glasses and cause fires. Also when coals of roasts or stoves are lit in places that are not allowed or burnt remains of pruning or other materials are burned.

In the second case, many forests and pastures are victims of intentional fires to free the land and move forward with the real estate and agro-livestock businesses. According to Greenpeace, in the last 25 years, 7.6 million hectares of native forests have been destroyed, which is equivalent to the surface of Entre Ríos, due to the illegal clearing and intentional arson of forests for their subsequent change of land use.

Both the climate and the negligent or intentional actions of the human being are the main causes that cause one of the most serious and characteristic environmental problems of these times of the year when the heat, drought and low humidity in the soils and pastures become the fuel that allows the development of this type of catastrophes.

Both the climate and the negligent or intentional actions of the human being are the main causes that cause one of the most serious and characteristic environmental problems of these times of the year when the heat, drought and low humidity in the soils and pastures become the fuel that allows the development of this type of catastrophes.

Among other negative consequences of forest fires we can mention the following:

• The natural cycles of forests are interrupted and native species disappear, while invasive plants proliferate.
• They increase the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and climate change.
• They generate ash and destroy nutrients.
• They erode the soil, causing floods and landslides.
• There are economic, material and human losses in many irreparable cases.
• From the legal point of view, there are several rules that deal with preventing and fighting fires as well as preserving the environment and the safety of people. One of the most recent regulations is Law 26,815 sanctioned in 2012, which establishes the minimum environmental budgets for forest and rural fires.

This law created the Federal Fire Management System (SFMF) that has an annual budget of approximately 500 million pesos, and is integrated by the National Fire Management Service under the Ministry of Security, by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the provinces, the CABA and the National Parks Administration. And it has the objective of:

1) protect and preserve the environment from damage caused by fires;

2) ensure the safety of the population in general and those affected by fire fighting;

3) establish mechanisms for an efficient State intervention in situations that involve or demand actions and operations of prevention, budgeting and fire fighting.

To carry out this task, Fire Management Plans must be implemented in each of the provinces and national parks as well as in the regional and national order and implement a National System of Early Warning and Fire Risk Assessment.

Another relatively recent norm is the law 26,562 of 2009 that regulates the burning activities in the whole country and prohibits those that do not have the authorization of the respective provincial organisms and forcing the provincial authorities to establish conditions and requirements to authorize the realization of the burning, taking into account climatic, seasonal, regional, soil preservation, flora and fauna parameters, as well as technical requirements to prevent the risk of fire propagation and protect public health and safety.

Finally, the Criminal Code of the Nation in the section dedicated to crimes against public security establishes that the one that causes forest fires or any other plantation of trees or bushes in exploitation, whether with its fruits standing or harvested, will be repressed with imprisonment or imprisonment for three to ten years. If, because of this, there is a danger of death for any person, the penalty shall be three to fifteen years and eight to twenty years, if the fact is an immediate cause of the death of a person.

Beyond the existence of these legal norms, the truth is that two things are needed: on the one hand, human behaviors to avoid this type of damage from being caused by negligent or intentional actions, through education and campaigns public awareness campaigns; on the other, the will and political decision of the local, provincial and municipal government authorities to effectively implement fire management plans that allow fire prevention as a priority and, should they occur, combat them in a way that prevents damage even older

Among other things, more resources should be allocated in the national and provincial budgets to train human resources and provide equipment and infrastructure for the agencies responsible for dealing with fires, coordinate preventive work among different agencies and levels of government, remedy environmental damage produced by fires, planning and rethinking the different uses of soils, putting a brake on the advance of the agricultural frontier and the real estate businesses and applying the corresponding administrative, penal or civil sanctions in each particular case.

Finally, for the specific case of those forests and national parks that are located in the border areas, joint actions should be planned and executed with the governments of neighboring countries and binational agencies or agencies should be created to carry out this work. homework.

Lawyer and Teacher of Environmental Law UBA / UNSAM / UASB