The high temperatures and the lack of precipitation in the first half of the year favoured 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 source, in the first semester of 2024, 367 fires were recorded, compared to 48 in the period from January to June 2023. These fires affected 3,365.31 hectares of forest land, of which 3,264.86 hectares were edge forest fires. The most numerous fires, 105, were recorded in the forest fund administered by the Gorj County Forest Directorate, followed by the Prahova County forestry directorates, with 27 fires, Mehedinti and Valcea counties, with 24 fires each in the forest fund.

Most of these fires, 250, were recorded 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 amount of damage reaching 393,094 RON (rd. 79k euros).

All these areas affected by the fires will be restored by the National Forestry Authority – Romsilva, through forest regeneration works, the source mentioned.

The National Forestry Authority – Romsilva administers 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 under other forms of ownership. All the forests that are the public property of the state have international standard forest management certification. Also, the National Forestry Authority – Romsilva administers 22 national and natural parks, as well as 12 state stud farms.

AGERPRES