In the Country, 99% of Forest Fires Present in Dry Period Are for Action of the Human Being
Officers of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) have attended last week several fires in the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge and the National Wildlife Refuge Border Corridor. Some hectares of land have been burned but the fire has been controlled.
Also, this week, they attended illegal logging in the Border Corridor National Wildlife Refuge and a case of illegal logging of wood in protected areas of streams and springs; this time in the district of Horquetas de Sarapiquí.
Illegal logging was also attended to at Caño San José in Puerto Viejo, Sarapiquí, among others. The call of the MINAE authorities is to stop logging in order to avoid drought and more damage to the environment.
Fires
In the country, 99% of forest fires present in the dry season are by human action, so as every year, people are asked to take precautions not to build campfires or start fires within protected areas.
Some of the tips to avoid fires is to keep the lots and lots around the houses clean and free of weeds:
- Avoid burning garbage, leaves, trunks, Christmas trees, plastics, tires, and any other material; in the vicinity of vacant lots or patios in your home.
- Do not dispose of combustible objects, glass, cans, plastic or trash in vacant lots, on the edge of streets, pastures or other areas prone to catching fire.
- Maintain rounds (free strips of weeds, vegetation, and combustible materials) at the boundaries of property prone or exposed to risk by uncontrolled burning.
- Do not throw cigarette butts or other lit objects in vacant lots or on the side of the road.
- If you go camping: do not leave trash and combustible materials in the field, avoid fires or eliminate all combustible surfaces from the place where you build the campfire, do not leave fires burning, when you go to bed or leave the camp, make sure that the fire is extinguished by full.