Tunis/Tunisia — The Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries said on Thursday that it had brought under control all the fires that broke out on July 24, 25 and 26, 2023 in several forest areas, without causing any human damage, stressing that the cooling process is currently underway.
The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the number of fires in forest areas had reached 20 in the governorates of Béja, Jendouba, Nabeul, Bizerte, Kairouan, Siliana and Kasserine, The most serious fires broke out in the regions of Melloula, Ain Sobh in Tabarka (governorate of Jendouba), Ouchteta (governorate of Béja), El Krib (governorate of Siliana) and Zaghdoud (governorate of Kairouan).
The Ministry has emphasised the role of the agents of the General Directorate of Forests in the deployment of national efforts to fight fires, by mobilising all material and human resources, namely 39 fire-fighting vehicles, 5 sweepers, and work teams in coordination with local authorities and regional forest protection centres as well as neighbouring governorates.
The Directorate General of Forests has called on local residents in forested areas to exercise caution in order to avoid the spread of fires and to report any suspicious occurrences in the forests.
Fires encircled the village of Melloula in the Tabarka delegation on Monday July 24, 2023, due to the heatwave the region has been experiencing for the past few days. In addition, two fires broke out in the Melloula forest on July 18.
The forestry sector in the Melloula region of Tabarka in the governorate of Jendouba, in north-west Tunisia, has lost around 450 hectares (ha) of maritime pines, which cover a total area of around 5,000 ha on the Algerian-Tunisian border, as a result of a series of fires that have broken out since the beginning of last week, according to the head of the Forestry Department in Tabarka, Noureddine Azizi.
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The total surface area of forests in Tunisia is estimated at 4.6 million hectares, or 34% of the national territory. It is mainly located in the north-west and centre-west. Nearly a million people live in the forests, with an estimated economic value of around 932 million dinars, according to data from the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights.
The number of forest fires recorded during the period from 1 January to 18 July reached 78 (of which 56 were forest fires and 22 were scrubland fires), compared with 156 fires in 2022 (of which 59 were forest fires and 97 were scrubland fires), said Director General of Forests, Naoufel Ben Haha, at a press conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday, July 21, 2023.
