Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia on Tuesday gave a unenthusiastic welcome to a G7 pledge of $20 million to fight the Amazon wildfires, describing it as “tiny.”
Morales said the support from the most industrialized countries was part of the world’s “obligation” to safeguard the Amazon rainforest.
On Bolivia’s Radio Panamericana Morales said “I welcome that small, small, tiny contribution of $20 million from the G7 — that is not help, it is part of a shared co-responsibility, as all peoples have the obligation to preserve the ecosystem,” Morales said The richest nations “should contribute a lot, and not only when there are fires,” the president said, adding that he hoped the aid would arrive as quickly as possible.
This wildfire this year causes release of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Environmentalists around the world are concerned, as the Amazon rainforest is a key part of regulating the Earth’s atmosphere.
Bolivia share the Amazon rainforest like Brazil, but Brazil have captured
the world’s attention while Bolivia has been fighting its own blazes. Morales
said since lasy May Bolivia had destroyed 1.2 million hectares, or more than
4,000 square miles of forest and grassland.
Wildfires in Bolivia has enlisted a Boeing 747 “Supertanker” from the
US to support its effort to extinguish the fires from the air.
G7 countries during meeting in France made the USD 20 million aid offer to help
Brazil and Bolivia to combat the fires.
Brazil rejected the offer in the midst of a spat between President Jair
Bolsonaro and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who has blamed his
policies for damaging the Amazon.
Morales has also been criticized like Bolsonaro for his land-clearing policies. On Tuesday, he said he had announced a pause in land sales and purchases to prevent people taking benefit of the fires clearing large areas of land for crops and livestock.
