Forecast for 2023: Expert considers forest fire situation "very worrying"

Created: 12/27/2022, 10:35 p.m

By: Stefanie Fischhaber

The risk of forest fires in Germany will increase in the coming years.

(Archive image) © Federal Police/ dpa

In 2022, the risk of forest fires was at a high level.

In the coming year, the risk will increase even further.

Germany could turn into a forest fire country.

Munich – The number of forest fires is not only increasing in southern European countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain.

There were also numerous forest fires in Germany in 2022.

But the trend is not declining: for the coming year, the risk of election fires could increase even more.

Experts speak of a "worrying" situation.

32 major forest fires in Germany: 4,300 hectares of forest land destroyed in 2022 alone

2022 was a record year for wildfires.

For weeks there were fires in Saxon Switzerland, in southern Brandenburg and several times in the Harz Mountains.

A disaster was even declared in Upper Franconia due to a devastating forest fire.

The EU's Copernicus forest fire information system lists 32 major forest fires in Germany this year.

This puts the number of fires in 2022 at the high level of 2018, said Torsten Riedlinger from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) of the German Press Agency.

Fires that have destroyed at least 30 hectares are recorded.

They would have destroyed almost 4,300 hectares of forest and bushland - the size of more than 3,000 football pitches.

Increasing risk of fires: Germany will turn into a forest fire country by 20240

"Unfortunately, Germany has a high risk of turning into a forest fire country by 2040," said Somidh Saha from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

The main reasons are climate change and mistakes in forest management.

Drought characterized the summer of 2022 - and according to experts, the prospects for the forest fire season beginning in March next year are not good.

“Unfortunately, the situation is very worrying.

In large parts of Germany there are pronounced rainfall deficits, we are going into the next year with very dry soil and many weakened trees as a mortgage," said the forest expert and professor at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Pierre Ibisch, of the DPA.

"In any case, scientific models assume a future increase in the risk of fire."

Rising risk of forest fires: Fire departments and communities are adapting

The German Fire Brigade Association is already working on how the technology, equipment and training of the emergency services can be improved.

But nothing can be achieved quickly, said the head of the forest fire working group in the fire brigade association, Ulrich Cimolino.

"There's still a long way to go." Municipalities are also working on better forest paths, more wells and protective strips to prevent fires.

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The exact causes for the outbreak of fires are sometimes difficult to determine because the affected area is large.

Possible traces are destroyed by the fire or extinguishing work.

This is exemplified by the figures from the Harz police station: until shortly before Christmas, the police conducted 87 investigations in connection with forest and wildfires, 7 of them in the Harz National Park.

A suspect was identified in six cases.

Investigations into the major fire in early September in the Harz Mountains are still ongoing.