Between February and August 2023, seven incidents of forest fires in the Valle de Aburrá have been assessed by the Metropolitan Area. Notably, a fire between August 3 and 7 decimated 34.5 hectares of native forest around the El Seminario area and El Plan neighborhood in the Santa Elena district.
This incident was the second largest in terms of area affected during 2023. Post-incident evaluations showed that the fire had severe environmental impacts, including damage to protective vegetation on slopes and the loss of various wildlife species. The fires also affected the soil structure, diminishing water flow to the aquifer and harming protected plant species, such as orchids. Additionally, this disrupted the wildlife connectivity between Medellín and the Santa Elena biological corridor.
Other significant fires evaluated by the committee occurred on Cerro Quitasol in February and May, affecting 83.7 hectares combined. These fires challenged ongoing reforestation and soil recovery efforts led by the Valle de Aburrá Metropolitan Area. Fires in several other locations were assessed, revealing that 98% of them occurred on the slopes of the Valle de Aburrá. Disturbingly, 95% of the fires were found to have been started intentionally. Recommendations for recovering the affected areas included promoting natural barriers against fires using certain identified species and managing grasses that intensify fires with broad-canopied trees.