People work to extinguish the fire that continues to consume trees and pastures in San Luis del Palmar, province of Corrientes, Argentina.
A devastating wildfire in the province of Corrientes in northeastern Argentina has ravaged almost 8,000 square kilometres of land, or nearly 10 percent of the region's area, according to figures released by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA).
Firefighters on Sunday continued operations to extinguish the flames.
"(The situation) is grave, extremely grave," Marcelo Taboada, a firefighter captain said.
"Those are the cards we were dealt with in the past few years that climate change has generated these fires of great magnitude that are very hard to control not just in Argentina but in the world."
Omar Zimmerman, a worker at a ranch said, "We started putting fires out last Tuesday. Yesterday we were working tired without sleeping for over 40 hours."
"It's terrible, (the fire) has destroyed a lot, the damage is in the millions. I'm not the owner (of the ranch) but it makes you want to cry to see that."
In pictures: Devastating wildfire in Argentina’s Corrientes province ravages almost 8,000 square kilometres of land, or nearly 10 percent of the region's area, officials say pic.twitter.com/AIQXBBWV0H
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'Disaster zone' declared
The governor of Corrientes, Gustavo Valdes, declared the province an "ecological and environmental disaster zone."
More than $234 million have already been lost due to the fires in Corrientes, according to the Argentine Rural Society. The province produces fruit, livestock and other agricultural products.
"We're mortgaging 10 years of our future because of this situation, because all the new plantations have died," Orlando Stvass, a producer of yerba mate, a popular herbal tea product, told local television channel Telefe.
Wildfires devastated almost 800,000 hectares in Argentina’s Corrientes, threatening wildlife in the Ibera National Park.
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Argentinian officials declared the province an “ecological and environmental disaster zone” pic.twitter.com/EuEBMwmbqY
Wildlife in Ibera National Park at risk
The flames threaten wildlife in the Ibera National Park, the largest wetland in the country and one of its largest ecosystems.
The park is home to marsh deer, alligators and more than 380 species of birds.
Many animals have been burned by flames or poisoned by smoke, while others have been run over on roads while trying to escape the fires.
Some of them were found wandering in search of new places, after their habitats were destroyed by drought and fire.
"The animals do not have water. We leave water for the monkeys in the trees and for the alligators two or three thousand liters per day, when we do not need it to put out the fire," said Andrea Boloqui, president of the Corrientes Chamber of Tourism.
"The estuary is dry."
Enrique Viale, president of the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers, said the huge losses from the fire were a sad example of how climate crisis and human activity were destroying the environment and causing economic losses.
"The causes of this disaster must be sought in the terrible combination of a great drought, global climate change, together with bad local development models based on exotic forest species, rice fields and cattle ranching on wetlands," he said.
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