The Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) Progress Report for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa was published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) on Tuesday 2 May.
According to the report, which provides a preliminary assessment of forest fires over the past year, 2022 was the second worst forest fire season in the EU since 2000, when EFFIS started recording. The damage in 2022 is only exceeded by that in 2017.
Fires were mapped in 26 of the 27 EU countries (all except Luxembourg), burning a total of 837,212 ha, 86% more than the 449,342 ha recorded in 2021.
The year had two major peaks: the first in March, when a very high number of fires were recorded in almost all countries, and the second, more significant, in July.
Apart from Ukraine, Spain was the most affected by forest fires, with a total of 315,705 ha. This is three and a half times more than in 2021. Romania (162,518 ha), Portugal (112,063 ha), Bosnia-Herzegovina (76,473 ha) and France (74,654 ha) are also among the five most affected countries.
Of this total, 365,308 ha have been declared as Natura 2000 sites - which group together natural or semi-natural areas of the EU with high heritage potential - three times the area mapped in 2021. This is equivalent to about 44% of the total area burnt in these countries.
The JRC is making a key contribution to reducing the risk of forest fires in Europe and worldwide through the development and operation of EFFIS, as part of the Copernicus emergency management service. It will publish a full analysis for 2022 in the autumn of this year.
To read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/6n8 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)