Fire is the main cause of forest destruction in the countries of the Mediterranean Basin. About 50 000 fires sweep through 0.7 to 1.0 million hectares of Mediterranean forests, other wooded land and other land each year, causing enormous economic and ecological damage as well as loss of human life.
The forest fire situation in the Mediterranean Basin is significantly determined by predominant climatic conditions. Prolonged summers (extending from June to October and sometimes even longer), with virtually no rain and average daytime temperatures well in excess of 30°C, reduce the moisture content of forest litter to below 5 percent. Under these conditions, even a small addition of heat (lightning, a spark, a match, a cigarette butt) can be enough to start a violent conflagration.
Wild land fire information systems can help prevent major damage by alerting the responsible authorities when the weather conditions make fire outbreaks very likely.
Most damaging fires are caused by people for many different reasons: burning of waste and for pasture renewal which gets out of control, arson, pyromania, (illegal) clearing of land to change land use, not following existing obligations to avoid fire, etc. Other underlying causes like poverty, land pressure and lack of law enforcement create favourable conditions for these fires. The cause of a fire is often reported as not known and additional investigation to define the cause of fires needs more attention. A special point of attention is needed for arson, a phenomenon often mentioned as the cause of fire.
Cooperation within the Mediterranean on fire management could be a more effective way of preventing major damage by wildfires. New possibilities should be explored for this.
