Forest fund: The number of fires increased sevenfold

Wildfires have become a global problem. Our country is not spared from this trouble either, official data indicating an increase in the phenomenon. The high temperatures and the lack of precipitation in the first period of the year favored a more than seven-fold increase in the number of fires in the forest fund managed by the National Forestry Agency (RNP) - Romsilva, compared to the similar period in 2023. According to the RNP - Romsilva in the first semester from 2024, 367 fires were recorded, compared to 48 between January and June 2023. These fires affected 3,365.31 hectares of forest land, of which 3,264.86 hectares were litter fires. The most numerous fires, 105, were recorded in the forestry fund administered by the Gorj Forest Directorate, followed by the Prahova forestry directorates, with 27 fires, Mehedinţi and Vâlcea, with 24 fires each in the forest fund. Most of these fires, 250, were registered in the hilly areas, in the forest fund located in the plain areas, another 99 and 18 fires in the mountainous areas. In these fires, trees with a cumulative volume of 209 cubic meters were destroyed, 90,883 forest saplings were also destroyed, the total value of the damages reaching 393,094 lei. All these areas affected by the fires will be restored by the National Forestry Authority - Romsilva, through forest regeneration works, the cited source mentions. In order to prevent fires in the managed forest fund, the National Directorate of Forests - Romsilva has adopted several measures, such as the intensification of patrol actions, information campaigns among citizens, tourists and employees of companies that carry out activities in the forest fund, as well as carrying out the works of maintenance of insulating lines.

RNP - Romsilva reiterates the call to citizens to be responsible, not to burn stubble, not to leave fire unattended, especially in risk areas, not to light fire in or near forests, to ensure that they extinguish the fire after using it , exclusively in specially arranged places. The National Directorate of Forests - Romsilva manages 3.13 million hectares of state-owned forests, about 48% of the country's forests, and provides forestry services for about one million hectares of forests in other forms of ownership. All the publicly owned forests of the state have international standard forest management certification. Also, the National Directorate of Forests - Romsilva administers 22 national and natural parks, as well as 12 state stud farms.