A European report on forest fires says more than 149,000 hectares burned in 715 fires in Romania in 2022. Environment Minister Tanchos Barna says official figures show the forest fires have burned 11,311 hectares, with the rest agricultural land.

Tanchos Barna Photo: Facebook – Tanczos Barna

According to the latest report of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), in 2022 there were 715 fires in Romania, covering 149,172 hectares, and this trend has been increasing since 2011, News.ro reports.

Environment Minister Tanchos Barna claims that official statistics suggest otherwise.

“The figures show us that in 2022 there were forest fires in Romania on an area of ​​11,311 hectares, the rest is agricultural land,” the minister said in a Facebook post on Friday evening.

According to him, the most significant fires were:

1. Gorzh County: 139 fires on 4,938 hectares

2. Mehedyntsi district: 32 fires on 547 hectares

3. Karash-Severyn County: 71 fires on 1,830 hectares

4. Hundeoara County: 37 fires on 486 hectares

5. Tulchan district: 14 fires on 421 hectares

“In total, 11 fires broke out on an area of ​​81 hectares in June, and 11 fires on 56 hectares in July. For a comparison regarding forest fires: in 2021, there were 278 fires in Romania on an area of ​​2,102 hectares, and this year there were 834 fires on an area of ​​11,311 hectares,” the minister added.

He claims that this is “another situation where some are trying to denigrate Romania at the international level, although the reality is completely different.”

The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) was created by the European Commission (EC) in cooperation with national fire authorities to support the services responsible for forest fire protection in the EU and neighboring countries, as well as to provide the EC and the European Parliament with harmonized information on forest fires in Europe.