On Tuesday, 19 November, the 2023 annual report on forest fires revealed that more than 500,000 hectares of natural land – that being an area of around half the size of the island of Cyprus – were hit.
For instance, the forest fire near Alexandroupolis, in the Greek region of East Macedonia and Thrace, was the largest wildfire recorded in the EU since the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) was set up in 2000, with 96,000 hectares burnt. The report specifies that 2% of the fires were responsible for 85% of the total area burnt.
“The 2023 wildfires [once] again showed that we were not ready to face these risks,” declared European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra. He advocated investing more “to better prepare for and prevent these wildfires”.
The EFFIS annual report emphasised the fact that with climate change, forest fires are more numerous, affect larger areas with greater intensity, and extend beyond the summer period. Pointing out that around 96% of forest fires in the EU are caused by human actions, the report suggests conducting campaigns to raise public awareness and educate the population. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)