160 Million: Morocco’s Preparations for the Fire Season
Express TV: Mustafa Filali
The National Agency for Water and Forests revealed on Thursday that the number of wildfires during the 2024 season decreased to a total of 382, burning an estimated 874 hectares of forest cover. The agency noted that secondary grasses and seasonal plants account for about 45 percent of the burned areas.
This information was presented during a meeting of the administrative committee for the prevention and control of wildfires, chaired by Abdel Rahim Houmi, the general director of the National Agency for Water and Forests, with the attendance of relevant partners. The meeting primarily aimed to evaluate and present the results and lessons learned from the 2024 forest fires, as well as to review the means and measures that will be mobilized for the upcoming 2025 season.
The agency promised that the figures presented are “positive compared to 2023, which saw approximately 6,426 hectares burned, reflecting a decrease of 86 percent.” It added that there was an 82 percent drop compared to the annual average of affected areas over the past ten years.
Regarding the geographical distribution of the fires, the source indicated that “almost all regions of the kingdom experienced wildfires, though at varying levels,” but noted that “the greatest pressure for ignition was recorded in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, where 123 fires occurred, affecting an area of 346 hectares (32 percent of the nationally recorded fires).”
In contrast, the Fes-Meknes region was the most affected in terms of burned area, suffering around 357 hectares burned (41 percent of the total burned area nationally) in 2024.
