In early 2023, Chile once again experienced megafires which caused devastating damage to affected regions.
The dominant debates, however, make no mention of what a report from the Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2) made clear: “50% of the areas that burned as a result of megafires from 1985 to 2018 were covered with exotic tree plantations”—mainly pine and eucalyptus trees.
The megafire problem stems from the fact that huge areas of industrial plantations greatly facilitate the expansion of fires, as Chilean news service Resumen reports. In 2018, a WRM bulletin article already warned about megafires in relation to the Chilean plantation industry and its total impunity.
In this context, we once again recommend viewing the documentary, “Flames of Dispossession. Fires of the Forestry Business,” which seeks to promote debate about one of the many problems that the tree plantation industry brings to communities where it operates: fires. It can be watched in Spanish here.