The Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (Ispra) has released data on the fires that hit some areas of our country in 2023. Last year Italy was hit by forest fires for one total area of 1073 square kilometers, that is, almost a third of the Aosta Valley; approximately 157 square kilometers among these were composed of forest terrestrial ecosystems. 83 percent of the total Italian forest area affected by large forest fires belongs to the regions Sicily and Calabria. In Sicily they went up in flames 101 square kilometers of forest area, i.e. the 64 percent of the total national forest burned in 2023. Fifteen out of twenty regions were affected by large forest fires; the regions that did not suffer forest fires were Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Umbria.
The most affected province from the fires was the one of Palermocon 43.5 square kilometerswhich alone represents the 43 percent of the total regional forest burnt and the 28 percent of the total national forest burned. In the province of Messina and in that of Syracuse are burned respectively 23 and 10 square kilometers of wooded area. The 43 percent of forest ecosystems affected by fires in 2023 is found within protected areasmainly belonging to Natura 2000 Network sites, i.e. the main instrument of the European Union policy for biodiversity conservation. «The fires that occurred in Italy in 2023 – says Ispra – were significant both for the overall extent of the affected areas (in the last six years it has only been higher in 2021) both because they have systematically hit only some provinces».
«The numbers – says Ispra – are increasing compared to 2022 especially for the total areas burned (+36 percent) and to a lesser extent for the forest areas burned alone (+6 percent). In four days – those between 24 and 28 July 2023 – «they burned approximately 80 square kilometers of forest areaon average 20 square kilometers per day», that is «almost half than burned in all of 2023». In the months of August and September, however, «an average of 0.3 square kilometers of forests burned per day». Another important event was the one that occurred «between 17 and 23 September»: in those days they burned about «20 square kilometers of forest», on average «2.8 square kilometers per day».
Ispra has also published some data relating to fires in early 2024. «From 1 January to 31 May 2024 – says the Institute – a total area of 39 square kilometersof which almost 12 belong to woods and forests”. ISPRA also underlines that the80 percent of the areas affected by fires – both total and forest – is found in the regions of Sicily and Calabria.
