During the dry season, fires are always a threat to Venezuelan national parks. This year conditions are especially bad. The dry season began last week and already there are approximately 400 separate fires burning in the mountains near Caracas. Most of the fires are within El Avila National Park and the surrounding Caracas Protective Zone. In El Avila, 400 hectares of vegetation have already been destroyed, a record for this park. Numerous groups of volunteer fire fighters, several fire departments from Caracas, and workers from INPARQUES, the government institution that manages the national parks, are fighting the fires. El Ávila is a mountain park located in the northern mountain range known as the “Cordillera de la Costa.” It is located in between the Caribbean Sea to the north and Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, to the south. El Avila is a popular area for hikers and climbers. It is still unknown if this year\’s fires are natural or the result of human activities in the park. The director of INPARQUES, Carmen Cecilia Castillo, points out that measures are taken to reduce the chance of fires, including trail closures and a free phone to report fires and other emergencies.
According to Noris Brito, who served as the Director of the Institute of Fire Prevention in the Venezuelan Environmental Ministry, between 1988 and 1998, there were 9,905 forest fires of at least one hectare in Venezuela\’s national parks. These fires destroyed more than 570,000 hectares. In her opinion, emergency action often does not come quickly enough. Records show that in 1998, 42.1% of the fires were fought within 30 minutes of being detected, 20.5% between 30 minutes and 2 hours after detection, 34.9% between 2 and 4 hours after detection, and 2.5% were dealt with more than 4 hours after the fires were reported. Several other Venezuelan protected areas are currently burning but have received less attention than El Avila. Fires have been reported in Henri Pittier and San Esteban National Parks. In Sierra de Perija National Park several have been burning since February 14th. Sierra de Perijá is located at the extreme northwest region of Venezuela on the Colombian border. It is in a rugged and remote area, which makes it extremely difficult to monitor. To date, approximately 5,000 hectares of the nearly 300,000-hectare park have been destroyed. The mountains of Sierra de Perije support several threatened endemic bird species. It contains the watershed of the Catatumbo and Intermedio Rivers and the few communities of indigenous Indians who also live there. One ethnic group, the Yupka, have had many of their gardens destroyed. Volunteers and firemen from the cities of Maracaibo, Mérida, and Machiques are working with Venezuela\’s National Guard to combat the fires. The cause of these fires is still under investigation.
(Top photo: Fires in Venezuelan parks. All photos taken by: Alex Delgado)
ParksWatch: March 2001