Patagonia in flames and beyond. Here the endless heat waves, high temperatures and drought are being paid for in the true sense of the word. All factors that make territories drier and more vulnerable, increasing the risk of rapid and intense fires.
To date, more than 40,000 hectares — an area nearly double the city of Buenos Aires — have already been consumed by fires in northern Patagonia in their austral summer, with large fires in the provinces of Neuquén, Río, La Pampa and Chubut.
If we look at what has happened from November 15 until today, we are facing one of the worst fire seasons, especially in the northwest of Chubut, where thousands of hectares of natural ecosystems, homes and livelihoods have already been lost – explains biologist Javier Grosfeld, researcher at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Research (INIBIOMA) of the National University of Comahue.
In northern Patagonia alone, around 250 fires larger than 10 hectares were recorded between 1999 and 2022, according to a study published in 2025. Now, in recent weeks, severe forest fires have left the Chilean regions of Biobío and Ñuble in a “state of catastrophe” in mid-January, killing 23 people, destroying more than 1,000 homes and forcing 52,000 people to flee. In Argentina, in early January, fires hit the UNESCO-listed Los Alerces National Park, which is home to ancient alerce trees that may live for more than 3,000 years.
But why does all this happen? And why every year? Climate is not the only factor that explains the growing extent of fires, which is rather the result of decades of profound transformations of ecosystems.
Monocultures
First, there has been severe transformation of the native forest through plantations of exotic conifers – mainly radiata, Douglas fir, ponderosa and Murraya pines. These industrial plantations of non-native pines have no ecological purposes, but serve the production of wood and cellulose.
They are also rich in resins, which do nothing but encourage the spread of fire and continually fuel new fires.
Funding cuts and insufficient staff
As Greenpeace explains, in the last two years the Argentine Government has drastically reduced funding to the Servicio Nacional de Manejo del Fuego, the body responsible for the prevention and management of fires: the 2026 budget is 70% lower than 2023. Furthermore, fewer than 400 firefighting workers currently work in national parks, often with precarious contracts and insufficient salaries.
Fewer means, less prevention, slower response. And in many areas, local communities have to organize themselves to contain the damage.
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And there is also Mercosur…
The entry into force of the free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) could worsen the situation. In that case, in fact, South American exports of products whose cultivation, production or extraction have serious impacts on ecosystems could increase.
In the absence of binding and effective environmental protections, the treaty risks encouraging deforestation, industrial monocultures and intensive land exploitation, increasing pressure on already fragile ecosystems such as those of Patagonia.
