Morocco Establishes Support Cell for Wildfire Victims as Blazes Subside in Northern Regions

From Wednesday evening until Sunday, July 17, these fires ravaged 6,600 hectares of vegetation, leading to the immediate evacuation of 20 villages, according to a statement from the National Agency of Water and Forests (ANEF). The fires broke out in several forests in the north of the country, the note specifies, stressing that these are forests located in the provinces of Taza, Larache, Tetouan, Ouezzane and Chefchaouen.

To deal with this, around 2,000 elements from the Water and Forests, Civil Protection, Royal Armed Forces, Royal Gendarmerie, Auxiliary Forces and local authorities, equipped with tank trucks and first intervention trucks, were mobilized. Also, five "Canadair" aircraft and eight "Turbo Trush" aircraft from the Royal Gendarmerie were used during these operations, it is added.

Making a partial assessment of the damage caused by the flames, the agency carried out a diagnosis of the situation and statistics and took a series of measures concerning reforestation. As for the social aspect, a cell has been set up at the central and local levels, in coordination with all stakeholders, in order to identify the necessary and urgent measures to support the population affected by these fires and the programming of integrated development projects, concludes the statement, specifying that it is also part of the "Generation Green" 2020-2030 and "Forests of Morocco" 2020-2030 strategies.