Paz, Aug 27 (Prensa Latina) Bolivian President Evo Morales announced this Tuesday the ban on the sale of land in the Chiquitania region, department of Santa Cruz, harshly affected by large-scale wildfires.

In an interview with Radio Panamericana, Morales said that about 1,036 fires, of a total of 8,000, have so far been extinguished.

'I have decided to declare an ecological halt, which means that the sale of land ravaged by the wildfires is prohibited,' he said.

Morales noted that, with the assistance of a Supertanker firefighting airtanker, planes and helicopters, 1,892,320 liters of water were used to extinguish the flames.

'I strongly recommended contracting three helicopters, one a tandem rotor, with a capacity of carrying 12,000 liters of water which we hope we can contract with international cooperation, and two other helicopters that carry 4,000 liters of water,' Morales explained.