2023-05-31 17:19:00
The weather forecast for the next few weeks is not good for our forests. According to many experts, the current climatic conditions tend towards a summer with a high risk of fire, and we must prepare for it.
“I believe that we will have to equip our firefighters in terms of equipment and expertise to be able to deal with large forest fires.“, notes Xavier Fettweis, climatologist. Strong heat, lack of water and very dry vegetation: the threats are multiple, in particular in our Ardennes.
In 10 years, the temperature there has risen by more than 1 degree, while precipitation has decreased by 10% and evaporation is only increasing. “For the moment in Belgium, we haven’t had big fires like in France, but given the climate projections, that’s where we’re going“, notes the climatologist.
When they are natural, fires are considered positive for ecosystems, provided that their habitats are sufficiently large and diversified: with us, this has not been the case for years.
“The problem is that the fires will be applied at an increasingly high frequency and intensity on small degraded surfaces.“, explains Grégory Mahy, professor at Gembloux Agro-Bio-Tech. “It’s an additional threat and disturbance“.
Our country is today covered with the equivalent of 1 million football pitches. For the experts, everything will have to be watched very closely this summer.
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