Two regional reports ago, I wrote my analysis article on deadly wildfires ravaging Chile, leaving thousands displaced and killing eleven, resulting in Chile going into a state of emergency. At that time, many things were being investigated to find the causes of these horrible wildfires. Now, It is known that the forestry industry has taken part in causing these uncontrollable wildfires.
“Fire chiefs said that multiple factors caused the blazes, but environmentalists say the toll was higher than it should have been because plantations had expanded to the edge of communities and companies had failed to insert firebreaks.” This quote from the article is interesting because it shows that plantations aided in the uncontrollable wildfires. They have plants that easily catch fire because of their dryness and when they do catch fire, the fire easily spreads to surrounding communities because of the close proximity.
“We’ve been warning the forestry sector for the last eight years about the growing threats; and these plantations are never subjected to environmental risk assessments – they’re completely unregulated,” said Sara Larraín, former presidential candidate and director of the environmental NGO Chile Sustentable. This is also interesting because the plantations are not required to environmental risk assessments which causes them not to because they are not forced. It would be a hassle to complete risk assessments, so what would be their reasoning to if they are not required? This is why rules and regulations need to be put in place by the government because you can’t leave stuff like this up to the companies, a lot of times they will look out for themselves and the environment and other factors last. The forest industry is worried about how much money they are making, not what the effects of their industry are causing.