25,000 hectares of land have been ravaged by the recent forest fires that tore across Northern Morocco this summer -a rate that is nearly ten times higher than the previous ten years.
The National Center for Climate Risk Management of the National Agency for Water and Forests spoke to Hespress about the difficulty to provide early assistance to the many villages and mountain forests across Northern Morocco, whose rugged terrains and dry climate hamper firefighting efforts.
Of the 100 regional requests to deploy firefighting planes to burning areas, the Center was only able to assist thirty. At least 165 fires burnt since the beginning of the year.
Olive trees, and hectares of various crops were burnt, families were displaced, four people died and hundreds of animals were killed with the burning of thousands of land cover.
The North African nation, which is struggling under intense droughts, has in recent days been hit by soaring temperatures approaching 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Civil Protection, Auxiliary Forces, and the Royal Gendarmerie, in addition to all available units of local authorities, helped tame the fire; but continued high temperatures remain a threat.
In 2021 only 2,782 hectares were burned by 285 fires between January and September.
Heatwaves have come more frequent, more violent, and longer-lasting, as world temperature rose by about 1.1 °C since the industrial age.
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