Bulgaria is in the top ranking for forest fires in Europe for 2024. second after Cyprus according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
The country typically experiences about 600 forest fires each year. These incidents annually affect an average of around 10,000 hectares of land, resulting in direct economic losses of around €2.5 million.
This was announced by the executive director of the “Association of Municipal Forests” Engineer Tihomir Tomanov in information sent to the media.
According to reports of the European Forest Fire Information System, during the first years of the 21st century, more than 100,000 hectares of forests in Bulgaria were affected by fires, with the years 2000 and 2007 being the worst in the history of Bulgarian forests. In 2007, 1,479 forest fires and 43,000 hectares of forest were burned, and in 2000, 1,710 forest fires and 57,406 hectares of forest were burned. This year will probably be the worst for our forest, the message states.
According to the report of the European Forest Fire Information System for 2022, the main causes of forest fires in Bulgaria are: 321 fires (62%) were caused by negligence; due to arson — 16 fires (3%); for natural reasons — 21 fires (4%); for unknown reasons - 158 fires (31%).
Additional statistics collected from 1970 to 2005 show that harmful practices in agriculture, power distribution, negligence have persisted for decades, indicating a long-standing vulnerability of forests to fire. These data highlight the urgent need for comprehensive fire prevention strategies and sustainable forest management to mitigate this ecological challenge, adds the executive director of the “Municipal Forestry Association” Engineer Tihomir Tomanov.
According to him, we can add to this the passive behavior of the Bulgarian authorities and institutions responsible for fighting forest fires. The only investments that are made in this direction are through the European programs for rural areas and for the environment, says the executive director of the "Association of Municipal Forests".
According to him, for the last two program periods, the measures for dealing with fires are reduced to financing the Main Directorate "Fire Safety and Protection of the Population" so that the Directorate can extinguish fires more effectively. The expert believes that there is no experience on the part of the OPE/POS Managing Authority to study and finance measures with a proven effect for forest fire protection, such as a combination of measures for prevention, preparation, response.
The attempt by the Rural Development Program to finance firefighting is equally unfortunate. In the period 2007-2014, the construction and equipment of fire towers were financed, which never worked in an early warning system, says the specialist. Thus, the municipalities, which must react first on the ground, together with the forest divisions, were left without the opportunity to invest in fire-fighting depots, helipads, water basins and other means of monitoring and prevention, adds engineer Tihomir Tomanov.
The Association insists that urgent measures be taken in the state and that the POS 2021-2027 program be reprogrammed, because it is subject to reprogramming at the end of this year. We emphasize that the reprogramming must happen in a much more efficient way – through expert brainstorming sessions dominated by experts not from the administration, but with proven international and national experience on leading trends in forest and environmental protection and the experience of Portugal, which made a major breakthrough in fighting forest fires, to be transferred and implemented in the best possible way in Bulgaria in the next few years, the announcement states.
According to our expert assessment, approximately 40-50% of the forests in Bulgaria fall into the high-risk category for forest fires. This underscores the urgent need for proactive measures to manage forest resources and strengthen fire prevention strategies, the release said.
The fire situation in the country remains complicated. The fight against the fire continues in the area of the village of Goleshovo in the mountain Slavyanka on the Bulgarian-Greek border and in the village of Senokos, Simitli municipality. Fires are burning in the Pirin and Vitosha mountains, as well as in Nevestino municipality, Kyustendil district.