Over 50, 000 forest fires in Europe per year
Translation by:joanna sands
Wildfire 2007, the 4th International Wildland Fire Conference, takes place in Seville, Spain from 13-17 May
An ailing Europe suffering from the effects of climate change and global warming prepares itself for another sweltering summer - with further blazes set to burn.
According to meteorological research, the last few years have been the hottest on record. As a result, every year around 50, 565 forest fires burn in European territory causing not only the loss of human lives, but immeasurable devastation to the environment. Europe, however, has yet to present a united front on how to tackle this burning issue.
Mediterranean member states
Countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece are worst affected due to their geographical position and climate conditions. They are the EU member states with the highest forest fire risk index, and where the largest amount of burnt forestland is recorded. A total of 589, 559 hectares (an area almost the size of Cyprus), between the five countries burned to ashes in 2005. That year the number of fires overtook the average of previous years, with an overwhelming 73, 325 cases during the summer months.
Portugal and Spain are the most severely affected. According to data from the 2005 European Report on Forest Fires, compiled by the European Commission Joint Research Centre, 88% of forest blazes that year took place on Iberian soil. Again Portugal and Spain bore the brunt of devastation with 85% of the 589, 559 hectares surface area affected.
Fanning the flames - the effects of desertification
Rising temperatures are not the only cause of Europe’s plague of forest fires. A combination of factors have conspired to keep Europe bone dry and vulnerable to the flames. An unrelenting drought caused by plummeting levels of rainfall, inefficient forest management due to inadequate land policy regulation, the limited varieties of trees planted and above all the desertification of rural areas once farmland has been abandoned have all played their part. In 2003, according to figures from the United Nations Convention to combat desertification, 31% of Spanish and 18% of Italian territories were found to be in an extreme danger of desertification.
Criminal damage is another of the cause of the large number of fires. However, the European Commission lacks the ways and means to determine exactly how many fires can be attributed to arson/ man. ‘Many fires start for reasons which we are unable to establish,’ says Paulo Barbosa, a Portuguese researcher at the Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability in Brussels.
Prevention, not cure
In response to the situation, the Commission has opted for preventive strategies. Through the Joint Research Centre, a research group was created in 1997. This develops and puts into practice measures such as 'forest fire risk forecasts'/ It also creates maps of the areas of European territory affected.
Efficient co-ordination between all sectors involved in forestry policy is provided for in the Sixth Environment Action Programme of the European Community (2002) EC regulation no. 2152/ 2003 encompassed 'Forest Focus', concerned with the monitoring of forests in the European Community. In turn, Forest Focus established the European Forest Fire Information Service (EFFIS), its objective being to create forecast maps for the areas most prone to forest fires. This is based on meteorological information and satellite images, to be sent daily to the twenty-seven member states.
Forest Focus ran until the end of 2006, with some of its projects in force until 2008. This has been replaced in 2007 by LIFE+, the EU's single financial instrument targeting only the environment and environmental policy.
Yet without a watertight strategy for the fight against forest fires, the European Union faces the very desperate need to create a common policy on the subject. According to Barbosa, ‘further measures and European Community legislation shall be taken and adopted in the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013), in order to deal with the forest fire situation.’
Read the original version inPortugese
Translated from 50.000 incendios al año en Europa
Maelfu ya watu wameuawa katika moto wa msitu huko Seville, Uhispania, mnamo Mei 13, wakati mkutano wa nne wa kimataifa wa moto wa misitu ulifanyika huko Seville, Uhispania, mnamo Mei 13, ambapo Ulaya ilijitayarisha kwa majira ya joto ya joto zaidi. Kulingana na utafiti wa hali ya hewa, miaka michache iliyopita imekuwa yenye joto zaidi kuwahi kurekodiwa. Kwa sababu hiyo, kila mwaka moto wa misitu unaowaka karibu 50,565 katika eneo la Ulaya, na kusababisha hasara kubwa kwa mazingira na maisha ya watu. Hata hivyo, Ulaya bado haijaonyesha umoja juu ya jinsi ya kukabiliana na suala hili kali. Nchi za Mediterania, kama vile Uhispania, Ureno, Italia, Ufaransa na Ugiriki, zinaathiriwa zaidi kutokana na nafasi yao ya kijiografia na hali ya hewa. Nchi hizo ni nchi wanachama wa EU zilizo na kiwango cha juu cha hatari ya moto wa misitu na ambapo kiasi kikubwa cha misitu iliyowaka imerekodiwa. Kwa jumla, eneo la ekari 589,559 (saizi ya kisiwa cha Cyprus) kati ya nchi hizo tano liliteketezwa mwaka 2005. Mwaka huo idadi ya moto ilizidi wastani wa miaka iliyotangulia, na idadi kubwa ya moto ilifikia 73,325 katika miezi ya kiangazi. Ureno na Hispania ndizo zilizoathiriwa sana. Kulingana na ripoti ya EU ya moto wa misitu ya 2005, iliyoandaliwa na Kituo cha Pamoja cha Utafiti cha Tume ya Ulaya, asilimia 88 ya moto wa misitu mwaka huo ulitokea kwenye ardhi ya Iberia. Ureno na Hispania zilikuwa na asilimia 85 ya ardhi hiyo iliyoharibiwa. Kuchochea mioto - Athari za uharibifu wa jangwa Kupanda kwa joto si kisababishi pekee cha tauni ya mioto ya misitu ya Ulaya. Mchanganyiko wa mambo umeshirikiana ili kuifanya Ulaya iwe kavu na iwe rahisi kuathiriwa na moto. Ukame unaoendelea kutokana na kupungua kwa mvua, usimamizi mbaya wa misitu kutokana na udhibiti duni wa sera za ardhi, aina ndogo za miti iliyopandwa na, juu ya yote, ukame wa maeneo ya vijijini mara tu ardhi ya kilimo imeacha, yote yamefanya kazi yao. Kulingana na takwimu za Mkataba wa Umoja wa Mataifa wa Kupambana na Uharibifu wa Jangwa, asilimia 31 ya maeneo ya Uhispania na asilimia 18 ya maeneo ya Italia yalikuwa katika hatari kubwa ya uharibifu wa jangwa. Uharibifu wa uhalifu ni kisababishi kingine cha idadi kubwa ya moto. Hata hivyo, Tume ya Ulaya haina njia na njia ya kuamua hasa ni moto gani unaweza kuhusishwa na kuchomwa moto na mtu. "Moto mwingi huanza kwa sababu ambazo hatuwezi kuanzisha,"" anasema Paulo Barbosa, mtafiti Mreno katika Taasisi ya Kituo cha Utafiti cha Pamoja cha Mazingira na Uendelevu huko Brussels. Kuzuia, si kutibu Kwa kukabiliana na hali hiyo, Tume imechagua mikakati ya kuzuia. Katika mwaka wa 1997, Shirika la Utafiti la Umoja wa Mataifa (JRC) lilianzisha kikundi cha utafiti. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Uhakiki wa hatari ya moto wa misitu"" ni hatua ya msingi ya utafiti wa hali ya hewa ya misitu na maeneo ya Ulaya." Mipango ya uendeshaji wa misitu ya misitu ya Ulaya imewekwa katika Mkataba wa Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango ya Mipango. "Mwaka wa 2003 ulijumuisha ""Forest Focus,"" inayohusu ufuatiliaji wa misitu katika Jumuiya ya Ulaya." ForestFocus pia imeanzisha huduma ya habari ya moto wa misitu ya Ulaya (EFFIS), ambayo inakusudia kuunda ramani za utabiri wa maeneo yanayohusika zaidi na moto wa misitu. Hii inategemea habari za hali ya hewa na picha za satelaiti, kutumwa kila siku kwa nchi wanachama ishirini na saba. Forest Focus ilifanya kazi hadi mwisho wa 2006, na baadhi ya miradi yake ilikuwa hai hadi 2008. Mkataba huo ulibadilishwa mwaka 2007 na LIFE+ - chombo kimoja cha kifedha cha EU kinachoelekeza mazingira na sera za mazingira. """Lakini bila mkakati thabiti wa kupambana na moto wa misitu, Umoja wa Ulaya unakabiliwa na haja kubwa ya kuunda sera ya kawaida juu ya suala hili." "Barbosa alisema: ""Hatua za ziada na sheria za Jumuiya ya Ulaya zitachukuliwa na kupitishwa katika Programu ya Mfumo ya Saba (2007-2013) ili kukabiliana na hali ya moto wa misitu."