Canada: Government invests in fighting forest fires

The fire situation is not improving in Canada, far from it. Several major fires are ravaging forests and the situation is at risk of further deterioration. The Canadian government has just released funds to help combat the situation on the ground, but warns that climate change will further exacerbate the phenomenon in the future.

Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023: Forest fires have destroyed more hectares at the beginning of the year than for all of last year. REUTERS - ERIC MARTYN

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With our correspondent in Quebec City, Pascale Guéricolas

Fires are part of Canada's natural forest cycle where approximately 2 million hectares burn each year. However, spring 2023 is already a record as 2.7 million hectares have already burned on June 1, even before summer.

Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Willkinson, said there was an urgent need for action. "This illustrates the fact that the planet is warming. We need to plan smart investments in the future so we don't want to make these fires," he said. This means, among other things, programs to make communities more resilient and take the necessary measures to prevent fires. For example, a pilot project by the National Fire Association is looking at the links between built-up areas and wilderness areas.

« Making the landscape less flammable »

Canadian Forest Service researcher Marc-André Parisien is particularly interested in forest management methods that promote tree thinning. It is also a question of better configuring logging. "It can be adapted to make the landscape less flammable. We can also do prescribed burns, burns in the undergrowth to remove the fuel. But we've been talking about it for about fifty years. It's still embryonic, let's say it," he says.

However, the very large fires in recent years in Western Canada seem to have awakened the conscience of elected officials, who are investing more in research on this subject.

► Read also: Faced with unprecedented fires, Eastern Canada evacuates thousands of inhabitants

Wildfire near Fox Creek, Alberta, Canada, May 5, 2023. VIA REUTERS - ALBERTA WILDFIRE

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• Canada
• Natural disasters
• Climate
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