The Civil Defence Commission has announced that Brazil will be helping Guyana combat wildfires. This is a good and welcome move as Brazil’s fire agency has ample experience in combating forest fires. For this year so far, wildfires have been sucking the life out of parts of the Amazon rainforest. According to one report, in the Roraima State, in northern Brazil, the number of fires in February was more than five times the average, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, and blazes continued to burn through March.
Locally, over the past few months, Guyana has experienced an unprecedented number of wildfires.
According to data, as of the first week of April, Guyana has experienced over 1285 wildfires since January, and this is a direct result of the El Niño phenomenon, which is responsible for the prolonged dry season. One thousand of those fires occurred in communities located in Regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); whereas the regions with the lowest incidence of wildfires are Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), which both had fewer than 200 fires.
The El Niño phenomenon, which is triggered by the warming of the central-eastern Pacific Ocean, usually manifests every two to seven years, and lasts for a period of 9 to 12 months.
Research has shown that during the El Niño phenomenon, the environment would experience meteorological drought (which is a reduction in rainfall); hydrological drought (whereby water levels in rivers decrease, affecting livestock and food supply) and ecological drought, which dries up the moisture of the soil. Each of the droughts mentioned has the potential to cause wild or flash fires, decrease crop production, and cause flooding.
This El Niño phenomenon is expected to last until at least the end of this month, since the effects of an El Niño typically play out the year after it has been formed.
However, several experts associated with agencies such as the World Health Organisation have hinted that 2024 would be even hotter than the average global mean temperature between January and October 2023, which was the highest on record. It beats the 10-month average for 2016 – the current record holder for the hottest year.
Given the existing reality, medical experts have published countless articles warning that heat-related illnesses and deaths would increase. One serious, potentially fatal condition is rhabdomyolysis.
In general, wildfires threaten not only forests but biodiversity and humans’ way of living. Research has shown that the overwhelming majority of forest fires begin via both nature and human beings. This is not surprising as the Guyana Fire Service has been urging persons to stop igniting fires to burn garbage and other materials. This warning was as a result of the surge in wildfires on account of the dry season being experienced. The human aspect is a complex and multifaceted challenge and requires more educational campaigns to enlighten the populace on not only the dangers but the impact of wildfires on society.
Wildfires are ecologically disruptive factors in forests, and forests serve a crucial part in maintaining ecosystem functioning and structure, but, more importantly, for Guyana our forests is a revenue earner. It is estimated that Guyana’s carbon credits – linked to a portion of the 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases stored in its forests, which cover 85 per cent of the country – could generate more than US$3 billion in revenue by the end of the decade.
Guyana has already earned US$37.5 million for the sale of high-quality carbon credits for 2024, from the multi-year agreement with United States energy major Hess Corporation, which carries a total value of US$750 million.
With such great potential as a major revenue earner, our Government must, therefore, explore all measures to keep our forests safe whether from human or nature ignited fires. Therefore, it is imperative to help alleviate the devastation of fires to our forests, that there be more monitoring systems. This can be critical to maintaining our forests.
