The summer of 2024 will be remembered for nearly two months of heat, devastating fires and drought that affected nearly the entire country. According to the data of the European Forest Fire Information System, based on satellite images, sine the beginning of 2024 Bulgaria has been the most affected country by forest fires in the EU.

The big fires destroyed some of the most valuable forest massifs in Slavyanka, Sakar and Strandzha mountains. The ancient forests are decreasing and with them entire ecosystems with rare endemic species are dying. We can only guess the damage done to the diverse wildlife. On the other hand, forest fires directly affect water resources, which decrease drastically. "A large part, or about 90% of the drinking water in Bulgaria comes from forested areas", Kostadin Valchev - senior expert of WWF-Bulgaria's "Forests" program, said in an interview for BNR-Vidin.

"In the absence of forests, water drains faster and with increasing dry periods, the risk of having a shortage of drinking water becomes greater. At the moment, as far as I know, at least 300 settlements in Bulgaria have regime on water supply. We expect that in the future water coming from forests will become even more expensive than wood if long-term climate change forecasts come true. Forests are very important not only because of biodiversity and because we like to walk in them, but also because of the drinking water we cannot live without."

According to Kostadin Valchev, the record-high temperature of the sea water in the Mediterranean can create cyclones and heavy rains, causing damage. Last year, such disasters affected the municipality of Tsarevo in Bulgaria and Volos in Greece, where over 800 mm of rain per square meter fell in 48 hours.

"Forests reduce the risk of flooding significantly,” Kostadin Valchev points out. “Of course, with amounts over 800 mm there is no escape, but with heavy rainfall up to 200 mm, forests can significantly reduce the risk of damage downstream the rivers. That is why forests will become more and more important. In order to achieve all of its functions, including those I have already mentioned, a forest needs dozens and sometimes hundreds of years but it burns for minutes."

According to the experts, in addition to the necessary technical means to fight fires, prevention is needed. On the one hand, these are the monitoring systems through which signals can be sent in a timely manner. On the other hand, more drastic sanctions are needed for those who cause fires, as well as legislative changes. In this regard, the parliamentary group of "Vazrazhdane" proposed changes to the Forests Act, which would prevent the possibility of municipalities selling burned forests for the construction of photovoltaic systems. Daniel Petrov, Member of Parliament from "Vazrazhdane" and deputy chairman of the Committee on Agriculture of the National Assembly believes that this is a loophole in the law that allows the construction of photovoltaic plants:

"When photovoltaic plants are built on agricultural lands, regardless of whether they are forest territories, pastures or meadows, then in the investment intention it is described that investors can deduct on a monthly or annual basis a percentage of the amount that has entered the company from the produced electricity. In this way, this loophole remains open. We think that if there were actually such intentional fires with the aim of creating photovoltaic plants, a change in the law would show this. If the number of forest fires decreased, we would have done our job right."

Author: D. Grigorova, based on interviews by BNR Vidin

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photos: BTA, BGNES, Radio Vidin