A group of 40 popular councils is associated with these fires in the provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Guantánamo and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.

The report from the Forest Ranger Corps of the Caribbean island indicated that the response indicator of controlling 70 percent of those that arise before five hectares was reached at 88.23 percent.

However, he warned of the need to increase prevention indicators, because negligence continues to be the fundamental cause of their outbreak, equivalent to 100 percent.

On the other hand, he indicated that 30 percent of these events were caused by the circulation of vehicles without spark arrestors, while 25 percent corresponded to burning for various purposes and 19 percent to events associated with poachers and fishermen.

Likewise, another 19 percent are related to irresponsible passers-by and smokers and four percent to beehive castrators.

The Forest Ranger Corps also warned about the great deterioration of vegetation, so the measures established for each degree of fire danger must be adopted.

According to the technical assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), extreme weather conditions increase the vulnerability of agricultural ecosystems on the island and, with it, the threat of forest fires.

“These fires increase soil deforestation, the loss of biological diversity and vegetation cover, and the historical behavior in Cuba shows a high variability both in its occurrence and in the damages caused,” details the UN entity.

Only between the months of February and May 2024, 83 percent of the fires occurred in rural areas, with March and April being the most dangerous months in these areas.

The Third National Communication of Cuba to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change counted more than 600 areas susceptible to the occurrence of fires.

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