The National Parks Administration has formalized the measure to prohibit making fire in National Parks in five protected areas, which extends until April. Fire can only be lit in authorized campsites and under strict supervision due to the alert for extreme drought.
In the face of an adverse climatic scenario and with high-risk projections for the summer season, the fire ban in National Parks of the Patagonian region and areas of the country’s center has been formalized. The National Parks Administration (APN) determined that from December 5th and until April 30, 2026, any type of burning or lighting of campfires outside strictly authorized infrastructures is prohibited, with the aim of preventing environmental catastrophes.
The administrative decision, embodied in resolution 390/2025, responds to an urgent technical report that alerts about the extreme vulnerability of the vegetation due to the drought. According to the document, the current meteorological conditions create a map of imminent danger, which forced the authorities to unify criteria and tighten the regulations governing the use of ignition elements in protected areas.
Critical areas and scope of the measure
The regulation places special emphasis on the most visited tourist corridors in southern Argentina. Specifically, the National Parks Lanín, Nahuel Huapi, Los Arrayanes, Lago Puelo, and Los Alerces have been classified as the points of highest risk of forest fires. In these territories, the restriction is absolute for the use of wildfire.
However, the APN established a single exception to ensure tourist operability: the use of fire will be allowed exclusively in camps organized by authorized providers (concessionaires), and only within the facilities designed for food cooking. This eliminates the possibility of making fire in free camping areas or non-concessioned zones, where surveillance is lower.
Regional coordination and severe penalties
This federal provision aligns with the provincial strategies of Neuquén, Río Negro, and Chubut, jurisdictions that had already declared the “fire emergency” through local decrees (198/2025, 1.004/2025, and 1.392/2025 respectively). The synchronization between the Nation and provinces seeks to avoid the dispersion of criteria that complicated prevention operations in previous years.
Furthermore, the agency warned that there will be zero tolerance with offenders. The new regulatory framework not only provides for the maximum administrative fines in force but also instructs the immediate filing of criminal complaints against those who violate the ban, especially if their actions result in an active fire outbreak.
With this resolution, a previous regulation from May that granted some discretion to the administrations of each national park is repealed, now imposing a centralized and restrictive command to shield Patagonia during the hottest months of the year.
