• fr
  • en

2022 is the second worst year for forest fires, says new report

Nearly 900,000 hectares of land burnt in 2022, according to the recent Joint Research Centre report on Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2022. This is a significant increase compared to 2021, when 500 500 hectares of land burnt, and makes 2022 the second worst year after 2017, when 1.3 million hectares of land burnt. The European Union also broke a sad record in 2022, with the largest fire ever recorded in the EU in Alexandroupolis (Greece), with 96,000 hectares burnt.

France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Croatia are among the countries most affected by forest fires in 2022.

 

Fires in mountain areas

Of the 900 000 hectares burnt in 2022, about 365 000 hectares belong to Natura 2000 sites. Mountain areas are biodiversity hotspots and are home to a large proportion of these protected areas, around 43% in the European Union. In 2022, Natura 2000 sites in Romania, Spain, Portugal and France were particularly affected by forest fires. In addition, the JRC report notes that the total area burnt in Natura 2000 sites in 2022 is the highest in a decade, which is an alarming sign for biodiversity.

While the report points out that 96% of fires are human induced, it also stresses that they are being exacerbated by climate change. In south-eastern France, for example, 2022 was characterised by a marked precocity; numerous fires occurred in the mountains in January and February, well above the seasonal average, due to the lack of snow cover.

 

The EU wants to put out the fire

These alarming figures underline the urgent need to combat forest fires in the coming years in order to better protect mountain populations and ecosystems. As the JRC points out in its report, the 2022 record is only a glimpse of what could become more serious in the future as a result of rising temperatures and more frequent droughts.

In view of the growing fire risk, the European Union intends to strengthen its fire prevention capacity. At the request of the Member States, the European Commission presented a Wildfire Prevention Action Plan in October 2022. It aims to increase knowledge, funding and capacity to respond to forest fires. The EU is also in the process of establishing a forest monitoring framework, which should include a fire component.

To improve its fire-fighting capacity, the EU is also relying on research and innovation progress through projects such as FIRE-RES. This Horizon2020 project aims to develop a pan-European integrated approach to fire management, addressing all phases of fire: prevention and preparedness, detection and response, and adaptation and rehabilitation. To achieve this, the project is testing innovations in 11 Living Labs, including in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine (France), where, according to the JRC, the Landiras fire in 2022 was the second largest fire recorded in France in the last fifty years.

Share
14 December 2023

Euromontana sur Facebook

5 days ago

Euromontana
Today, members of the Rural Pact Coordination Group (RPCG) meet online to discuss: • The forthcoming RPCG Declaration on the future of EU rural policy, which addresses the open questions in the @European Commission’s ‘key achievements and ways forward’ report;• RPCG members’ position papers on the future of Europe’s rural areas;• RPCG members’ role in the Rural Pact Conference of April 2025;• Members’ actions to date & the Rural Pact Support Office 2025 work programme.More information at: bit.ly/4fwtjnS#RuralPact #RuralVisionEU ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

6 days ago

Euromontana
📢 #CallForProposals: you can now submit proposals for the #InternationalMountainConference!The international conference dedicated to #MountainResearch is taking place from 14-18 September 2025 in #Innsbruck. It is being organised by the Research Area “Mountain Regions” at the Universität Innsbruck ⛰️🇦🇹📝 The #IMC is currently looking for proposals focusing on scientific research in #MountainRegions around the world. There are six formats to choose from, including plenary sessions and workshops - find out more and submit your proposal by 28 November: loom.ly/ntncy_M ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

2 weeks ago

Euromontana
We're at the #Gismart project Kick Off meeting in Paris today to share guidelines on communication, dissemination and exploitation of results 💡For the next two days, we will discuss the following steps to assess the sustainability of geographical indications all over Europe, including in the mountains ⛰️🌱🚜👩‍🌾 How to transition to more sustainable diet systems ? 🌱 How to implement the Farm to Fork Strategy?🥩🧀 how to develop a methodology to assess economic, social, environnemental dimensions of GIs sustainability?Pleased to be working on this key topic with INRAE and to continue collaboration with AREPO! More info on GI-SMART 🔗 www.euromontana.org/gi-smart/ ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

3 weeks ago

Euromontana
🌄 A week ago, we were opening the #MountainConvention2024 in the stunning Catalan Pyrenees! 🏔️✨ 250 mountain stakeholders came together in Puigcerdà to shape the #MountainEconomies of tomorrow! 💬 In the face of socio-economic, environmental, and demographic transitions, our economies must become 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 than ever! 💪🌱From fair remuneration of farmers & ecosystem services, to funding for the transition of mountain resorts, circular economy development for wool and wood products, support for entrepreneurship and interesting public procurement or taxes systems ... all a huge thank you to everyone for your energy and ideas! 🙌 These will be captured in the 𝐏𝐮𝐢𝐠𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚̀ 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, which will be presented on 11 December on International Mountain Day 📜🏔️🔜 Presentations and materials will soon be available! A special thank you to our co-organisers Territori. Generalitat de Catalunya. and CREAF, as well as our supporters Ajuntament de Puigcerdà , #NEMOR Network for European Mountain Research, European Rural Pact 🙏 ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

Euromontana sur Twitter