Colombia issues warning over soaring forest fire risk

The risk of forest fires in Colombia has increased significantly over the last week, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said on Wednesday, adding that the current situation could worsen deforestation.

Colombia, one of the world's most biodiverse countries, is seeing the effects of its typical dry season combine with a strong El Niño weather phenomenon, which typically produces hotter and dryer weather.

"This El Niño compared with the strongest recorded ... has the strongest structural impact on climate change, which we saw in 2023 with all these measurements showing temperature levels, the abnormality of having three oceans with temperatures above normal and simultaneously an El Niño classified as strong," Muhamad said.

So far in January, Colombia has recorded some 62 forest fires, of which 58 have been controlled while three remain active, Muhamad said. The number of municipalities placed on alert for fires has exploded almost four-fold to 747 since Friday, she added.

Abnormally dry conditions can cause naturally occurring fires spiral out of control, the minister warned, noting that the drought posed an extra risk for the country's Amazon.

"We're very carefully monitoring the Amazon, where obviously we (will) experience an important part of the deforestation figure – or reduction in deforestation – for the year 2024 in these first three months of the year," she said.

The government will present the final 2023 deforestation figures later this year.

While the current El Niño is particularly intense, it is not expected to last as long as in 2015 and 2016, Muhamad added.

"Although it may be very intense, the reduced length indicates that the impacts may be more limited," she said.