¡Prevention Advisory! Drought in Torres del Paine Generates Forest Fire Alert

Las Torres Reserve, through NGO AMA Torres del Paine, actively joints CONAF’s national campaign on the prevention of forest fire and appeals to locals and tourists to comply with all precautionary measures and report any irregularities.

The Municipal Council of Torres del Paine approved the declaration that the county is in a climate and environmental emergency, with the aim of making its care a priority issue, and developing that aim through the Local Climate Change Plan that the municipal environment group works on.

¡It’s time to take care of ourselves! Said Josian Yaksic K., general manager of Las Torres Reserve, in response to the severe droughts and the state of vulnerability in the region. “We promote this beautiful destination and we love being visited, for that reason we should prevent irresponsible behavior that could generate fires of incalculable proportions in the National Park and its surroundings”.

For this reason, Las Torres Reserve, through its NGO AMA Torres del Paine, has participated in various meetings and technical tables to promote the campaigns, request clarity of the preventive measures given and means available in case of disasters, highlighting the support and always active participation the Chamber of Tourism of Última Esperanza, and Guilds of the Province represented by its manager, Adriana Aguilar; the College of Experts in Risk Prevention at the National Level, with its president, Alejandro Valdevenito, an expert in risk management who insists on the need to urgently replace the bridges in the Laguna Amarga sector that do not allow Carros Bomba to cross.

As well as, the Última Esperanza Fire Department, with its commander, Sergio Ramírez, provides support to the recently founded Torres del Paine Fire Brigade; the National Forestry Corporation, with the Superintendent, José Linnebrink.

Each of these local actors participated in meetings with the NGO AMA Torres del Paine to analyze the behavior of tourists, manage the dissemination of information via embassies, and to work together on the design and implementation of complementary signage for Torres National Park del Paine and Las Torres Reserve.

The Torres del Paine Community Environmental Committee also participated, with its president, Karen Manosalva, who expressed the need to meet with environmental authorities to actively address water scarcity and its consequences.

Through this work, Las Torres Reserve has joined the national forest fire prevention campaign 2022/2023, which was developed by the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), that includes audiovisual material that is already being disseminated with its call for prevention by local, national and foreigners tourists who visit our region and, in particular, the Protected Wilderness Areas.

John Ojeda, director of the Torres del Paine Fire Brigade, highlighted: “We call for responsible conduct and to report if there’s behavior detected that may put our destiny at risk.”

¡Preventing a forest fire is easier than fighting it!. That is CONAF’s premise, addressing a worrying reality that 99.7% of fires are caused by humans. The causes are various: power lines, agricultural and forest burning, working with electric tools, burning garbage, and using stoves or campfires in at-risk areas.

It is in our hands then to prevent an eventual disaster and it’s necessary for the everyone to be aware of the serious risk involved with the use of fire or heat sources in urban-rural interface areas. In protected areas this conduct is prohibited by law.

From Las Torres Reserve and the NGO AMA Torres del Paine, we call on the need for extreme prevention measures and that any conduct deemed risky in the current climate and environmental emergency should be reported to the authorities immediately.

In the event of a forest fire, notify the authorities, if they ask to evacuate, do not hesitate. Call line 130.