A human tragedy coupled with an environmental catastrophe.
The forest fires that have ravaged northern Algeria in recent days have ravaged more than 10,000 ha of a natural park classified as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO, said academic and former director of the park Rafik Baba Ahmad.
Located in the northeast of the country, El Kala National Park has a unique ecosystem in the Mediterranean basin.
Read alsoAlgeria: five minutes to understand why the fires are so deadly in the country
Considered one of the main reservoirs of biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin, this natural area with a total area of nearly 80,000 ha is home to several hundred species of birds, mammals and fish which give it "a biological richness exceptional," said Rafik Baba Ahmed.
The academic says he is “pessimistic” for the future of the park because “over time, fires weaken the forest, making it vulnerable to other attacks such as harmful insects, but above all human activities”.
A disaster for a country with only 4.1 million hectares of forest, with a very low rate of reforestation (1.76%).
Overworked firefighters
The human toll from the gigantic fires on Wednesday and Thursday in the north of this Maghreb country rises according to official data to 37 dead, while local media report a 38th victim, a 72-year-old man in Guelma (east). ), as well as missing persons.
The flames are almost all extinguished, firefighters said on Saturday.
"In the last 48 hours, firefighters have intervened on 51 fires", in 17 departments, and they are still fighting two fires in Tlemcen, in the west of the country, said Algerian civil protection on its Facebook account.
Every summer, the north of Algeria is affected by forest fires, a phenomenon which is accentuated from year to year under the effect of climate change, leading to droughts and heat waves.