European Forest Fire Information System

The 2023 wildfire season in Europe was among the worst this century, according to a European Commission report published on Wednesday.

Last year, more than half a million (504,002) hectares, an area twice the size of Luxembourg, was scorched by wildfires, according to a report on Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2023 by the Commission's Joint Research Centre.

A forest fire in Greece is the largest recorded in the European Union, said a spokesman for the European Commission, quoted by "Guardian" and "AFP".

Eleven aircraft and a helicopter from the EU fleet have been sent to help fight the fire north of the city of Alexandroupolis along with 407 firefighters, Balazs Ujvari said on Tuesday.

Twelve major fires have burned more than 60,000 hectares in seven years, claiming a third (33%) of Attica's forests, according to the updated analysis by the National Observatory of Athens' Meteo service of data provided by the EU's Copernicus Rapid Mapping Service and the European Forest Fire Observatory (EFFIS).

Eleven large-scale fires in the Attica Region from 2017 to the end of July 2023 have destroyed over 55,000 hectares (550,000 stremmas), the National Observatory of Athens/meteo.gr said on Monday after data provided by the European Union's Copernicus mapping services and the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

Despite some efforts to downplay the Rhodes wildfire disaster, the 20,66 hectares of forest and farmland that burned have left an indelible mark on the island.

A social-responsibility project has been launched to mitigate the threat of Turkey's recurring wildfires and protect the country's diverse coastal regions.

By bringing together the right stakeholders for a common cause, the "Beeing Hope" project seeks to heal Turkey's fire-scorched ecosystems, protect endangered bee populations and help resuscitate local pine honey production.