Criticism of the use of EU funds: forest fire prevention remains weak!

Criticism of the use of EU funds: forest fire prevention remains weak!

Portugal, Land - The European Court of Auditors has criticized the insufficient use of EU aids to combat forest fires in a recent special report. These measures have risen particularly as part of the Corona construction fund (ARF), whereby the expenses for preventive forest fire fighting have increased in recent years. In the analysis, members such as Greece, Spain, Poland and Portugal were viewed randomly. that in particular in Portugal the proportion of expenditure for prevention measures rose from 20% in 2017 to 61% in 2022.

The difficulty remains in the fact that there is a lack of central data about the amount of the funds. The report emphasizes that there is no uniform strategy to combat forest fires, which significantly limits the effectiveness of the measures. In addition, the increased focus on prevention strategies, such as the creation of fire lenses and the replacement of easily flammable vegetation, is considered positive orf .

challenges of forest fire prevention

In many affected regions, such as Galicia in Spain, most funds have been used for prevention measures since 2018. Another critical point of the report is that the risk of forest fire has been significantly tightened by climate change, while the main cause of the fires is often human action. Forest fires in the EU have not only become more common in recent years, but also more intensive. Between 2021 and 2024 there were an annual average of an average of an average of 1,900, which are three times as many as in the period from 2006 to 2010, and every year more than 5,250 square kilometers of forest area went to flames Kleine Zeitung . over 45 years old, which strongly questions the relevance and topicality of the measures.

In addition, EU funds flow into regions in which outdated danger cards are used, which leads to flooded areas, for example, in Portugal. These challenges show that there is a lack of coordinated monitoring of the measures used and better planning for future prevention measures.

long -term strategies and solutions

The EU Commission is working on a new forest strategy that was already announced as part of the European Green Deals 2021. This strategy is intended to promote the afforestation and preservation of forests in Europe. Climate change is not only a challenge for forest fire prevention, but also exacerbates problems such as droughts and bark beetles. Therefore, new management principles are also required to increase the resistance of the forests to fires EU Commission .

The EASAC warns that the probability of intensive forest fires up to 2100 could even be twice as high. In order to counteract these developments, experts emphasize the need for more than just deforestation and the construction of aisles. Prevention must also include climate protection and the renaturation to avert irreversible damage.