Rabat – Morocco is ramping up its efforts to tackle wildfires, with the National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF) allocating a budget of 200 million DH (around $22 million) for forest fire prevention and control this year.
Several regions are susceptible to wildfire in Morocco, especially Northern provinces during periods of rising temperatures.
The ANEF has broken down the budget into several preventive and operational measures, including the development of water points, opening and rehabilitation of forest tracks, construction and upkeep of vigil posts, deployment of fire lookouts, and procurement of first response vehicles.
In collaboration with various partners, ANEF has developed a new Master Plan for integrated forest fire management for the period of 2023-2033. The plan targets six priority areas and outlines an action plan for the next decade to prevent and control forest fires, while also taking into account the rising threat of wildfires resulting from climate change.
As part of its plan, ANEF is adopting new technologies, developing a web system based on artificial intelligence and big data to map the risk of forest fires and set in place early response mechanisms.
The system provides a daily prediction of forest fires for the pilot region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima and is the first of its kind in the entire Mediterranean basin.
Using this technology, ANEF would be able to produce a daily map of outbreak risk scores with a high level of confidence. The data would then be transferred to pre-positioned firefighting teams on the ground.
The risk of wildfire has increased exponentially over the past few years in Morocco, threatening thousands of lives and livelihoods.
In July 2022, as temperatures soared triggered by the worst drought to grip the country in over three decades, northern Morocco was hit by devastating wildfires that devoured the forests of Taza, Tetouan, and Larache. The fires caused clouds of thick smoke.
Rising temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius and droughts have been identified as the primary causes of these ferocious blazes.
According to reports from AFP news agency, the fires have forced over 1,000 families in affected areas to evacuate, and tragically, at least one person has lost their life.
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