Bulgaria is in second place after Cyprus in the ranking of forest fires in Europe in 2024, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

About 600 forest fires break out in this country every year, affecting nearly 10,000 hectares of land and causing economic losses of about 2.5 million euros. This year will probably be the worst for the Bulgarian forest since the beginning of the new century.

The main causes of forest fires are negligence and arson. In addition, many years of harmful practices in agriculture and electricity distribution have persisted to this day.

"The data highlight the urgent need for comprehensive fire prevention strategies and sustainable forest management to mitigate the ecological challenge," commented Engineer Tihomir Tomanov, Executive Director of the Association of Municipal Forests. According to him, the passive behavior of the authorities and institutions responsible for fighting this phenomenon is also added as a reason for the huge number of forest fires.

"The only investments that are made in this direction are through the European programs for rural areas and for the environment," engineer Tihomir Tomanov adds. According to him, half of the Bulgarian forests fall into the high-risk category for fires.

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