Scorched lands and lost biodiversity

Photo: canva.com/Bumblee-DeePhoto: canva.com/Bumblee-Dee

Columbans' legacy amid Chile’s deadliest wildfires

Columbans worked for two decades in the diocese of Valparaiso, beginning in the early 1990s and finishing around 2010. The diocese comprises the large twin cities of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar and several other coastal and inland cities.

One of the features of the twin cities of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar is a coastal mountain range. Most of the cities’ suburbs are located on the steep slopes that rise from the coast. It was precisely here in these suburbs and informal settlements that, in the first two weeks of February 2024, Chile suffered the deadliest wildfires in its history. With 133 people killed, it was the country’s worst disaster since 2010. The 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that left 500 people dead.

These wildfires were the world’s fifth deadliest since global records began in 1900. They were also the world’s deadliest wildfires since Australia’s “Black Saturday Wildfires” in 2009, the world’s fourth deadliest wildfire.

For the first decade of this century, Columbans worked in a lower socio-economic suburb on the top of one of the steep slopes. A part of the parish area comprised a deep gully filled with centuries-old native Chilean palm trees and other native flora and fauna. This area was endangered, however, not only by fire but also by developers who wished to remove the palm trees to establish a large housing estate.

Columbans worked with the local community to advocate for the area’s protection from over development. With the local community, they also cleared away dumped rubbish and overgrown weeds, which presented a fire danger. During the hot summer months, with strong winds from the Pacific Ocean, fire can easily rip through these gullies.

While wildfires have always been present in central Chile’s Mediterranean climate, the wildfire season now includes a larger number of fires and has extended by several months. Wildfires are now growing in intensity and are covering a wider area. Six of Chile’s seven severe wildfire seasons have occurred in the last ten years. At least 26 people died in wildfires in 2023 in central Chile.

While the wildfires spread throughout several regions of central Chile, the principal area of damage occurred in the coastal mountain range of the Valparaiso region, where the government called a State of Emergency. According to the National Centre for Disaster Prevention and Response, in the Valparaiso region, 6587 homes were totally destroyed, and 14,954 hectares were damaged by the fire. The century-old Botanical Gardens in Viña del Mar were totally destroyed.

Due to the rapid spread of the fires, many local residents found it difficult to evacuate after receiving an evacuation alert on their mobile phones. Others stayed at home in order to protect their property, hoping the flames would not reach them. Some residents claim they were not sure where to evacuate to. Government officials state that while Chile has an educated response culture around earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, floods and droughts, people need to be educated now in their response to wildfires.

According to experts, the February wildfires were caused by a combination of factors.

Since 2010, Central Chile has been experiencing a mega drought, which has dried up the landscape and seriously reduced water supplies. Nevertheless, during 2023, Central Chile received more rain than usual, which, while allowing grasses and shrubs to grow back, contributed to the fuel load for the February wildfires.

Other contributing factors that made the wildfires hard to control include the intense heatwave leading up to the wildfires, low humidity, and high wind speed.

While there is some debate about the exact role of climate change in these wildfires, it seems that climate-related mega droughts and heat waves, along with the presence of the El Niño weather phenomenon and the change in land use along the coastal mountain range, all contributed to the intensity and spread of the wildfires.

While the forestry industry has invested heavily in fire prevention, exotic species, such as pine and eucalyptus, in the coastal mountain range near Valparaiso, where the fires occurred, now outnumber native species. The loss of native species means, of course, the loss of biodiversity.

According to a 2020 study from the Centre for Climate and Resilience Research, exotic species in mono-cultural plantations, such as those of pine and eucalyptus, may change the dynamic of forest fires, increasing the speed of their spread, as well as the extent, intensity, frequency and seasonality.

According to the Centre for Climate and Resilience Research, fires in Chile are mainly caused by humans, either accidentally or deliberately.

The population of the twin cities has grown significantly in recent years. Informal settlements, mostly built of cheap flammable substances like wood, have developed without official urban planning permission and lie in or near forestry plantations along the top of the coastal range.

The areas most affected by the 2024 wildfires were poor neighbourhoods and informal settlements. As well as losing their homes, many people lost their livelihoods, such as workshops, vehicles, or crops. People living in these areas cannot afford fire insurance or take other preventative measures.

Many living in the informal settlements destroyed by the fires were already on low incomes. The small shacks of the informal settlements have a large percentage of elderly, single mothers, and unemployed persons. While the residents of these informal settlements already suffer various forms of social exclusion, the recent wildfires will help drive the survivors further into poverty.

The government, the churches, and other organisations are all working to support the survivors. Nevertheless, scientists warn that wildfire seasons in the future will intensify even more, and governments need to act now.

Columban Fr Dan Harding lives and works in Chile.

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