Wildfires ravage in Patagonia, destroy forests in Argentina

Wildfires have been ravaging in parts of Patagonia, Argentina, affecting more than 30,000 hectares of land including large forest areas.

Professional firefighters, the military and volunteers have worked around the clock to contain the fire, but extreme weather is worsening the situation.

Local residents said they are doing what they can with the resources they have to help control the fire, but it is not enough.

"The hardest part is knowing that if it doesn't rain, there is nothing that we can do. We can save houses. We can put out some of the fires. But if it doesn't rain, unfortunately we have few resources to address it," said Matias, a volunteer firefighter.

According a local fire control department, there is little rain forecast in the coming weeks. With no snow during the past winter, unusually high temperatures and high winds are now fueling these fires.

"That combination of factors meant that the fire had explosive impacts and advanced at an extraordinary pace. We have to remember this is dense forest with trees around 25 or 30 meters high. The fire essentially gained a life of its own," said Ariel Amtahuer, director of the local national parks fire managing department.

Currently two major wildfires have got out of control in this Argentine region. The first began in December 2025 in the Alerces National Park, a world heritage site. It is now just 12 kilometers away from joining the latest fire which began in early January.

Thousands of tourists have been evacuated, with homes and livelihoods destroyed, and irreparable damage done to the region's unique ecosystems.

"In the Andean forests lives one of the largest woodpeckers on the planet: the Magellanic woodpecker. To reproduce, this bird depends on ancient trees -- those over 200-years-old. This means it takes two centuries before a tree becomes suitable for the woodpecker to use for nesting," said Claudia Nardini, a natural environment scholar, who works with Aves Argentinas, a bird protecting organization.

Wildfires ravage in Patagonia, destroy forests in Argentina

Wildfires ravage in Patagonia, destroy forests in Argentina

Foreign passenger traffic from APEC member economies at Shenzhen Airport hit a historic high of 1.25 million in the first ten months of this year, local border inspection authorities said on Monday, as the city prepares to host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting later this month.

The 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, from November 18 to 19, with preparations in the final stretch.

As the meeting approaches, the airport port is seeing another surge in passenger flow, with international flights from APEC member economies including South Korea, Mexico and Malaysia arriving in succession at noon on Monday.

In addition to the APEC meeting, visa-free policies and the expansion of the international route network have driven notable growth in foreign passenger flows this year. In the first ten months, foreign nationals entering and exiting through the airport port totaled about 1.56 million passenger trips, up 27.7 percent year on year and a record high for the same period, according to the border inspection station.

A total of 1.25 million foreign nationals from APEC member economies received border inspection, up 29.6 percent year on year, also a record high for the same period. Travelers from Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, and the United States ranked among the top sources.

Shenzhen Airport sees record passenger traffic from APEC economies in first ten months