For much of September and October 2023, satellites detected widespread fire activity in Bolivia’s lowlands.
For much of September and October 2023, satellites detected widespread fire activity in Bolivia’s lowlands. That’s common in a country with a long-standing practice of lighting fires to stimulate new growth in pastures and to clear land for crops. But the fires this year were especially fierce at times due to ongoing drought and heat.
On October 22, 2023, VIIRS (the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite acquired this image of smoke streaming from fires burning in parts of the Bolivian departments of Beni, Santa Cruz, La Paz, and Cochabamba. A detailed view (below) from MODIS (the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows intense fires burning along the Ichilo River east of Puerto Villarroel, an area that has experienced widespread deforestation to its east in recent decades.
Fires occur in this region every year and are usually the result of human activity, explained Oswaldo Maillard, a researcher with the Bolivian-based nonprofit, the Foundation for the Conservation of the Chiquitano Forest. One of the most common causes is a slash-and-burn practice called chaqueo, the seasonal burning of pastures and crops to clear away old vegetation and prepare the soil for planting. Fires are also used to burn off piles of trees that have been cut to make space for new fields and pastures.
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