Countries unite to stop forest fires in the Maya Biosphere

The Governments of Canada, through its embassy, and the United States, through its Forest Service, joined forces with the Government of Guatemala, through the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) and the support of the Global Fund for the Nature (WWF Mesoamerica) to teach a course to people involved in preventing and fighting forest fires, particularly in the Maya Biosphere Reserve (RBM), in the north of the country.

Experts from the countries and institutions involved will teach a course called “Determination of Origin and Causes of Forest Fires”, which aims to help determine the causes behind the forest fires that affect the MBR.

“Like Guatemala, we face huge, devastating fires during the summer,” said Mateo Barney, political advisor at the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala. Barney added that, after the call for help issued by the Government of the Central American country, as a result of the damage caused by the fire in 2020, particularly in the north, an emergency financing was approved for WWF Mesoamerica, and CONAP.

It has always been hypothesized that about 95% of forest fires in Guatemala are caused by human hands, for different reasons. One of the reasons is the agricultural burning, which farmers and communities carry out prior to the start of the new sowing season in different parts of the country. Another major cause is the destruction of forested areas to expand cultivation areas, known as the agricultural frontier, as well as the creation of new areas for raising livestock.

It is also considered that, illegally, burns are carried out in areas such as Laguna del Tigre, in Petén, due to the interest of different groups in taking possession of the land, or as part of illicit activities promoted by drug trafficking.

With this course, what is sought is, to put it in some way, to carry out forensic investigations into the issue of forest fires in Guatemala, to determine with certainty, the physical causes, such as those mentioned above, but also those that may come from legal situations, conflicts between communities, need due to lack of development opportunities, or anything that could motivate someone to start a fire.