Morocco Braces for Severe Forest Fire Season Amid Drought and Heatwaves

The presence of dry and abundant vegetation in the summer of 2023, in addition to drought and long heatwaves, "increases the risk of forest fires," and their impact on biodiversity and local populations, said Abderrahim Houmy, presenting the assessment of forest fires for 2022, an "exceptional year".

Forest fires destroyed 22,762 hectares in 2022, an increase of 700% compared to the previous year and the largest burned area since 1960. In total, 500 forest fires were recorded last year, according to ANEF statistics. The north of the kingdom (Tangier, Tetouan and Al Hoceima) is the region most affected by these fires, with a burned area of 18,704 hectares. It is followed by Fez and Meknes, with 1,775 hectares of land burned, he specifies.

The ANEF director stressed that 99% of these fires are caused by humans and emphasized the importance of awareness campaigns to prevent these fires. In addition to its agents, ANEF calls on those of Civil Protection, local authorities, the Ministry of the Interior, the Royal Gendarmerie, the Royal Armed Forces and the Auxiliary Forces to extinguish the fires.

The kingdom has six Canadair aircraft and plans to buy two more to effectively fight forest fires. This year, ANEF has allocated 200 million dirhams (18 million euros) for the prevention and fight against forest fires.