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Join on Telegram Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Agriculture has announced the establishment of a cell to monitor the situation of wildfires that have hit several regions across the country.
“To mitigate the impact of the fire on agriculture and help citizens in need of aid, the ministry has set up a cell … to monitor the situation and assess the impact of fire,” a statement from the ministry said today.
The communique followed field visits from Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Sadiki this week.
The cell’s task will focus on identifying urgent measures to assist the population and lands affected by the wildfires.
Since July 13, several forests in North Morocco witnessed wildfires destroying approximately 9m200 hectares in the provinces of Ouezzane, Larache, Tetouan, and Chefchaouen.
The wildfires also hit areas of fruit trees.
The ministry acknowledged efforts from civil protection and auxiliary forces with the support of volunteers from the local population.
The intervention, according to the ministry, helped control the outbreaks of fire in the provinces.
Response task forces also managed to control flames caused by high temperatures and violent gusts of wind.
Although heat waves could be a direct cause for the wildfires, experts said that most of the fires are due to human errors.
Climate change and environmental experts said earlier this week that causes for wildfires can be divided into two categories.
While natural causes can form 5% of the factors causing fires human error is believed to lead the majority of the incidents, the expert argued.
He said that the errors can be throwing cigarette butts ors lighting fires in the forest for camping or mass burning of forest areas for agricultural exploitation.
“The worst consequence of wildfires is the destruction of the forest cover which takes decades or even centuries to fully recover,” he said, calling on citizens to be vigilant and contribute to preserving natural wealths.
