Tierra Verde Reckons With Fire Risk in a Warming Season

The sky above the Caaguazú forest reserve turned rust-colored at three in the afternoon. It was not smoke—not yet—but the light carried a warning. Raúl Gómez, the reserve's chief steward, stood at the edge of a thinned stand of yerba mate and timber pines, watching the wind push dry leaves across the forest floor. The afternoon temperature had reached thirty-four degrees. Rainfall for the month was running forty percent below the seasonal average.

Ten years ago, wildfire was not a word in the vocabulary of Tierra Verde's smallholders. The region's subtropical climate and reliable rainfall made fire a phenomenon of distant lands. Now, with temperatures climbing and the dry season arriving earlier each year, the calculus has shifted. Farmers and forest managers are retrofitting their thinking around a risk that feels new but may be permanent.

The Cooperative Council in San Vicente convened a preparedness forum last month, the first of its kind. Fifty farmers, cooperative leaders, and fire-safety officials gathered to discuss fuel management, early-warning systems, and evacuation protocols. The tone was grave but practical: Tierra Verde's economy depends on its forests and fields, and protecting them has become a matter of survival.