Culture & Design
Wetlands Are Burning Across South America With Farmers to Blame
- Argentina land ablaze for months to make room for crops
- Sanctuary to protect last blue macaws engulfed by flames
Fires burn in the Pantanal region of Mato Grosso State, Brazil on Aug. 1.
Photographer: Rogerio Florentino /AFP via Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
About 2,500 kilometers south of the Amazon rain-forest, other one-of-a-kind ecosystems are falling victim to fire and ax.
South America’s Pantanal wetlands -- reaching into Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay -- are burning at a record pace this year. In Brazil, a sanctuary that was home to some of the world’s last surviving blue macaws said it was devastated by fire. And in Argentina, thousands of acres of wetlands around the Parana River have been ablaze for months, with apocalyptic images on social media showing the port city of Rosario encircled in red flames in July.