American Expatriate Costa Rica

Changing soil use after Hurricane Otto turns on alerts

Last November, Hurricane Otto caused dozens of trees to fall all over the country.

This worries the authorities of the National Commission on Forest Fires (CONIFOR), since the change in the use of soils could affect an increase in the amount of fires.

It is good that people know that, as a result of Hurricane Otto, in the forest areas of Upala, San Carlos and Los Chiles, there is something we call ‘combustible material’, that is, vegetation that we must monitor through patrol control to prevent changes in soil use, since fire is the cheapest tool to eliminate vegetation,”

said Luis Diego Román, CONIFOR coordinator.

For this year, authorities expect the impact of the fire season to be lower, thanks to the increase in rainfall at least in the last months of the year.

The National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) evaluates and processes about 102 applications for the use of fallen trees.

We call on the population, so that forest fires can be avoided. We must remember that it is forbidden to burn vegetation or garbage in urban areas and that nobody can burn it without a permit granted by the MAG (Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock),”

said Roman.

crhoy.com