Despite there being a large increase in forest fires here over the last year, a source from the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) said that they do not pose much of a risk of going out of control since the majority of them are caused by persons clearing small sections.
In a letter that was published in yesterday’s edition of Stabroek News by Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge, it was noted that Guyana had seen an increase of 144 percent in forest fires, for the period from January 1 of this year to August 31 compared to last year.
This data was provided from a study that was done by the National Institute for Space Research. With Brazil leading the table with 87,300 fires, the number only represented a 76 percent increase. Guyana had the greatest increase with Suriname, pegged at a 121 percent increase, which translates to 160 fires.