2021 was again a drastic year that raised our concern about wildfires and their impacts in the European Union and its neighbour countries. Over 5 500 km2 of land were burned in 2021 – more than twice the size of Luxembourg – with over 1 000 km2 within protected areas of Europe’s Natura 2000 network., the EU’s reservoirs of biodiversity. The damage caused in many of these invaluable ecosystems will take many years to restore. The Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) was triggered nine times in 2021 to support affected countries in extinguishing fires and complement national capacities. Wildfires not only affected EU countries but impacted hard on some of our neighbouring countries in the Mediterranean region, causing large numbers of human casualties and damage.
However, in this report we are not only taking stock on the damage caused by wildfires in 2021, but we also look at the impact of wildfires in 2022. Currently, 2022 is the year with the highest number of fires since 2006. This is in addition to what is expected to be recorded as the most severe drought in Europe in 500 years. The area burnt expands to over 8 600 km2 in the EU – the largest area burnt by wildfires since 2006. The UCPM was triggered 11 times in the same period to support with aerial and ground firefighting forces to bring the wildfires under control. Although the area burnt by wildfires was remarkably extensive this year, the number of victims caused by these fires has been contained, thanks to the prevention measures implemented by the EU and its Member States and the enhanced preparedness and firefighting operations of the fire management services. The EU continues to work on mitigating the impact of wildfires: the new EU Strategy on Adaption to Climate Change, published in March 2021, sets out the framework for preparing for the unavoidable impact of climate change. The 2021 new EU Forest Strategy1 provides the basis for enhanced fire prevention and climate resilience of our forests, building on the guidelines for prevention of wildfires2. These guidelines include managing vegetation to avoid the accumulation of fuels on the ground. Furthermore, in 2021 the EU reinforced the UCPM capacity to increase the aerial firefighting means at its disposal and to assist countries during this fire season. This reinforced capacity is coordinated by the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). The support of the Joint Research Centre, through the provision of timely information on ongoing forest fires, aids informed decision- making on dispatching the aerial means funded by the EU.
