Recovery of the Amazonian ecosystem will take between 200 and 500 years

The fires ravaging much of the Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia will have serious consequences for the planet as the increase in global warming, water loss and extinction of species, estimated the director of the Botanical Garden of Bogotá, Laura Mantilla. "They could be delayed 200, 300, 500 years, or more, to recover such an ecosystem, "he said.

For the expert, no country is immune to the environmental repercussions that the flames will have on the call lung of the world. The importance of the Amazon lies in the fact that it is home to a megabiodiversity of incomparable flora, fauna and culture. It is therefore a strategic ecosystem for the world in areas such as the fight against global warming, since it is captured large proportions of carbon dioxide that prevent the concentration of greenhouse gases.

"If suddenly with a fire, all that disappears, these services will also disappear not only for Brazil, but for everyone," said the specialist. In the specific case of Colombia, the disorder of the water cycle is another unfortunate consequence of fires. Mantilla said in this regard that "the loss of the Amazon rainforest directly affects the Colombian Andes, because the water of this country comes partly from the Amazon. it hurts time".

A third consequence of fires is that, although nature is resilient, there will be a flora and fauna of the Amazon that will be extinct because its habitat is exclusively from this part of the world. "There will be no supply to recover the damage, because those that occur today are irreversible and could take 200, 300, 500 years or more, to recover an ecosystem like this, "he said.

In addition, Mantilla has deepened the fact that "when we talk about mature forest, we must know that there are old trees and that they recover, if they do, another thousand years will pbad ". The director of the Bogotá Botanical Garden said it was essential that people understand that it would be "fatal for humanity" to make the Amazon disappear.

"Without the Amazon, we will have radical climate change, beyond climate change.The Amazon is somehow responsible for bringing rain to the surrounding region and deforestation in the Amazon woodland in southern Brazil "he warned.

He also said that "without the Amazon, huge amounts of greenhouse gases that heat the planet would be released and that no forest can capture carbon dioxide emissions, it will grow so much that The whole world will be touched. In short, the quality of the air would be degraded, "he concluded.