Forest fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2020
The report provides a description of the fire season 2020 from the countries perspective and the same type of analysis from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). After the worst-ever year in 2019, 2020 was another year in which fires burnt large areas of natural land in Europe. Despite the increased level of preparedness in EU countries, about 340 000 hectares (ha) burnt in the EU in 2020, which is an area 30% larger than Luxembourg.
Key findings of the report include:
- The 2020 report on forest fires shows that Romania was the most affected country, followed by Portugal, Spain and Italy, as highlighted by national reporting;
- Wildfires heavily affected Europe’s ‘Natura 2000’ protected areas: the total areas burned in 2020 was 136 331 ha – about 40% of the total are burned – slightly less than in 2019 but above the average of the past 9 years;
- As in 2019, unfortunately, Romania accounted again for almost half of the total burnt area within Natura2000 sites, mostly occurring in the Delta Danube Nature Reserve;
- In 2020, fires of over 30 ha affected 20 of the 27 Member States, burning 339 489 ha in total, which is slightly above the amount recorded in 2019;
- Sadly, more people have lost their life in the 2020 fire season compared to 2019: national reporting from Spain recorded six causalities, four of them belonging to firefighters;
- The Copernicus Emergency Management Service rapid mapping was activated 17 times to for detailed mapping of forest fires in 2020, which is less than the activations in 2021 so far;
- The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was upgraded with a fleet of firefighting aircraft via rescEU in 2020, reinforcing its capacity to assist countries during this fire season.