In the scenario of the Mediterranean area, where about 54 000 fires and 0.4 million hectares of forest are burned and annually registered (2006-2010), the rank for Algeria is non-negligible with 4.11 million hectares of forest. The annual number of fires and the size of area burned depict a critical situation, which became rather dramatic in 2012. Climate change projections and the estimated changes to wildfire risk for the future decades (2030-2060) indicate that the entire Maghreb region, including Algeria, will be among the most affected areas of the Mediterranean. Longer fire seasons will be experienced and extended by an additional month with each passing year. Despite Algeria’s recent investments in technical means for controlling forest fires, the current suppression-oriented model seems unable to cope with such a phenomenon. Furthermore, the model is unfit in view of the approaching scenario, when fire-exclusion policies need to be complemented with fuel-reduction techniques and fire prevention management. This study aims to establish an understanding of the context and public policy issues related to wildfire management in Algeria. Data were collected by distributing questionnaires to foresters with the objective of identifying obstacles and constraints hindering the efficacy of pro-active measures. Analysis of the data gathered indicates that Algerian foresters are well aware of the importance of prevention, contrasting with current governmental policies that are predominantly oriented towards improving the technical extinction apparatus. A SWOT analysis suggests possible strategic options for improving the efficiency of wildfire control by building on strengths, eliminating weaknesses, exploiting opportunities, and mitigating threats. The results of this study may be adapted to other countries with similar problems as those of Algeria.
In the period 2003-2010, more than 5 million ha of forest were burned in the Mediterranean region, and more than 600000 wildfires were registered (
Whereas the five southern member states of the EU (or Western Mediterranean countries -
Fire management challenges are not currently an object of great interest in North Africa, where recent literature on wildfires is rather scarce and mainly oriented towards fire ecology studies (
In recent years, Algeria has invested in fire suppression activities. However, until now no national assessment has been conducted on the wildfire control apparatus within the country. Our interest stems from the need to examine the current organization and to develop strategic recommendations for overcoming possible obstacles and limitations. Hence, the purpose of this study is to survey and evaluate the national wildfire control service in Algeria, establishing an understanding of the context and public policy issues related to wildfire management, with the objective of identifying obstacles and constraints hindering the efficacy of pro-active measures. Research was conducted using the criteria of the FireSmart project (EU 7th Framework Programme 2007-2013 concerning forest fire preventive measures) with the collaboration of the Algerian Forest Administration (General Directorate of Forests, DGF), which permitted and provided direct, personal contact with foresters. Thus, the opportunity was given to evaluate the results with those already obtained in Southern Europe (
In the wildfire scenario of the Mediterranean area, the rank for Algeria is non-negligible with 4.11 million ha of forest (58% of which is degraded bush; forestry ratio 1.76%). The paucity of forests and the growing threat of desertification render fires particularly devastating. Despite huge investments in the national fire control apparatus, the yearly number of wildfires is increasing. From 1876 to 2012, the cumulative surface burned in Algeria was 5272717 ha, which is close to the forested area of about 5 million ha in 1830 before the French colonization (
Research was conducted through a quantitative survey administered to technicians working in the DGF who are involved in forest fire control field operations. Structured questioning was achieved through the use of an
The DGF provided the names of all foresters operating within the 40
The questionnaire results were synthesized using a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. The Strengths and Weaknesses are internal, controllable factors, which can be acted upon; they exist now and refer to the current situation. The Opportunities and Threats are external, independent and uncontrollable factors (
From the 400 foresters contacted by e-mail at the national level, we received 228 replies, representing a response rate of 57%. The responses were irregularly distributed per
Chi-squared test statistics of dependency between age, experience and all items in the questionnaire were carried out by Sphinx survey and statistics software package (http://www.sphinxsurvey.com/). Dependency between age, experience, and the responses to the questionnaire that were calculated as significant are reported in
As expected, the driving factors were age and experience. Although we obtained the most important results, not too much emphasis was ascribed to personal influence, considering that all contacted individuals work within the DGF (a homogeneous technical and administrative unit with a strong hierarchy and well-defined set of customs, norms, and standards and in which all components share common rules, values and objectives). In short, we considered the DGF as a unit in which interpersonal differences were not so crucial.
Results are presented in terms of average rating or percentage of respondents agreeing or disagreeing with the statements.
We defined an index of agreement (
We found a more modest
Responses (
Using a scale from 1 to 4, respondents were asked to rate to what degree conflicts hinder the management and prevention of forest fires, with 1 and 2 expressing a low degree and 3 and 4 a high degree. Conflicts could be classified (
Responses provided to the open-ended questions can be grouped within the following categories: awareness; finance; firefighting organization; legislative measures; policy; population; prevention; silvicultural measures; and training and recruitment. Because responses are rather difficult to synthesize, we translated their text from French or Arab into English and created a word cloud where the importance of each term is directly related with their font size. The results of this representation are shown in
“Prevention” was identified as the most frequent and important word. This result indicates that foresters in Algeria are well aware of the relative importance of prevention contrasting with current governmental policies, which are mainly oriented towards improving the technical extinction apparatus.
SWOT analysis permits the formulation of suggestions to improve prevention and control strategies. For its implementation, results from the survey and other research (
The qualitative assessment identified 5 factors of strengths (S), 17 of weaknesses (W), 13 of opportunities (O) and 10 of threats (T). Weaknesses were the most significant determinant, with an overall importance of about 38%.
A SWOT matrix conceptually indicates distinct alternative strategies, based on the interactions of different variables. Four sets of strategies can be formulated by pairing each of the internal factors with each of the external ones, namely: (i) SO (maxi-maxi strategies): internal strength(s) realize the available external opportunities (ideal case); (ii) ST (maxi-mini strategies): internal strength(s) minimize the potential impact of external threats; (iii) WO (mini-maxi strategies): reduce internal weakness(es) or develop missing strength(s) to realize external opportunities; and (iv) WT strategies (mini-mini strategies): reduce internal weakness (es) and avoid or minimize external threats (defensive strategy, worst case scenario -
The final step of our SWOT analysis was to suggest possible options for improving the efficiency of the wildfire control apparatus in Algeria. Combinations of SWOT factors yielded comprehensible results (
Given the increased frequency of large fires it is mandatory to adopt modern fighting techniques, such as suppression fires and aerial means, and to improve the infrastructure network to ameliorate access to forests (W1, O3). It is also important to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge in the use of fire (TFU, traditional fire use) as a management tool (W1, T3) by incorporating people from the countryside (experts in TFU) into firefighting crews.
An impressive network of infrastructures (firebreaks, water supply points, forest roads and fire trails) has been realized in Algeria, but it lacks the necessary and timely periodical maintenance, which alone can assure continued efficiency.
It is mandatory to maintain infrastructures (W5, O3) also by exploiting the traditional knowledge of fire use (W5, T3) and using controlled grazing (W5, O12; W5, T6). These measures need to be accompanied by a better use of fire as a smart prevention tool (W3, O6) under the form of prescribed burning, which should be gradually introduced (W5, T3) and accompanied by appropriate training of personnel.
Resolving the irregularity of funding is a priority for improving prevention in order to eliminate poor maintenance of prevention infrastructures (W5, W8, O3).
An increase in the number of fires within WUIs is not accompanied by an adequate awareness of risk by inhabitants. Possible mitigation measures are information campaigns targeted at WUI inhabitants (W2, O2, O10, O11) and the inclusion of fire smart WUI management in urban plans for fire prevention (W3, O2).
The careless or illegal burning of straw and other residues, but mainly the dumping and subsequent burning of garbage in or near forests is among the most frequent causes of wildfire ignition (
Preventive silvicultural measures, such as thinning, pruning, and local shrub clearings, are efficacious but costly; incentives and obligations (W6, O3) should therefore be introduced within the Forestry Code (W6, O8) and public forest management plans (W6, O4).
Preventive silvicultural measures as above must also be promoted to foster the resistance and resilience of forest areas, if affected by fire (W8, O1).
Privately owned forests must be clearly identified by the Cadastre (W6, O9), and owners should benefit from an appropriate regime of incentives. This could create job opportunities for local residents (W6, O1) and help to reduce the popular belief that the forest is nobody’s land (W6, T2). When people have formal and legally recognized ownership of resources and can see long-term benefits from their land management, they will tend to be more concerned with the protection and sustainable management of those resources (
The national policy for wildfire control gives excessive emphasis to fire extinction at the detriment of fire prevention (W7, O3), since suppression-oriented actions seem to prevail (W7, T1). Future scenarios of higher risk, intensity and frequency of wildfires (W7, T7) confirm the restriction of suppressive actions and the opportunity presented by not limiting policy choices to suppression efforts but by investing more in fire management and prevention.
The inadequate distribution of personnel among and within the different
A plethora of stakeholders are currently involved within the wildfire fighting apparatus. This results in an inefficient multiplication of decision centers, at the detriment of extinction efficiency (W11, O3), and calls for a reduction of stakeholders and a well-defined chain of command and control.
Lack of adequate penalties against culprits in current forest legislation and extremely low fines have no deterrent effect, but rather represent a challenge for repeat offenders to ostentatiously break the law. A review and update of the monetary revaluation of fines and a reformulation of the penal system for voluntary fire setting should be introduced within the new Forestry Code together with more severe actions on the part of fire police (W12, O7, O8).
Authorities must be given the tools to reduce arson where forested land is of great value due to urban sprawl, a situation that is being caused by rural exodus and suburbanization (W12, T4, T8).
Authorities must be given the tools to contain the increasing number of deliberate fires caused by illegal land use changes (W3, T5), which are not currently prosecuted.
Awareness campaigns appear rather generalist, abstract and not oriented to change the negligent behavior of specific social groups. It seems mandatory to invest in awareness campaigns that are clearly targeted (W13, O10), professionally projected and inspired by so-called social communication.
Campaigns must increase citizens’ awareness of the impacts of fires and the consequences and social costs of fires (W13, O11), as well as the high cost of post-fire relief and recovery.
Campaigns should influence public understanding and change citizens’ largely indifferent attitude to wildfires (W15, O11). For example, campaigns should encourage more collaboration from the public. A more active participation in firefighting operations from the public is sometimes inadvisable, since it could imply important operational problems mainly related to safety. Promoting associations of properly trained volunteers is an option that is showing good results in several countries.
Weather stations are currently irregularly distributed, and their main objective is to collect data for agricultural purposes. It seems necessary to install a network of automatic weather stations within forested areas to facilitate the calculation of fire danger and risk indexes, which could improve preparedness for wildfire events and extinction efficiency (W14, O3; W17, O3, O6).
Lack of adequate training of personnel means there is difficulty in obtaining more efficient prevention and suppressive actions. Researchers and managers occupy two distinct and largely unconnected worlds, which are separated by mutual distrust (W16, T9). It is advisable to integrate and combine scientific and technological know-how with new training (W16, O5, O13), thus enabling personnel to employ expert tactics and modern preventive fire use (suppression fires, prescribed burning) in forest management (W16, O6).
Risk areas are irregularly distributed across the territory, and the control apparatus is not currently aligned with this distribution. It is necessary to focus actions on specific high-risk areas (W17, O3), which are identified using risk-maps.
Algeria has specific firefighting policies and laws. It seems necessary to update these policies and laws under the form of a modern and stringent discipline in regards to arson and negligent fire, including the creation of dedicated legislation for WUIs (S1, O2, O8) and an update of the Forest Cadastre and the new Forestry Code (S1, O9).
The importance of the forest sector for local job and income creation is not well perceived as a priority within the current political agenda. This gap must be filled (S2, T10) as a subsidiary tool of PPDR (Projects of Rural Development).
The important fire fighting apparatus and the impressive network of infrastructures must be integrated by a better interaction between researchers and managers (S3, T9) and in the scope of permanent training of personnel (S3, O5). Traditional knowledge in the use of fire must be exploited to develop and implement expert tactics and preventive fires, thereby improving extinction efficiency (S3, T3, O6).
The ambitious reforestation program of 1245900 ha is a relevant strength because it demands an efficacious firefighting program, but it is not coherent for the state, due to the lack of management plans for state forests. All new afforestation areas must be endowed, from their project phase, with management plans that pay specific attention to fire prevention (S4, O4, O6). In such areas, forest management must receive high priority on the political agenda (S4, T10), which is inclusive of the need to increase employment and local income (S4, O1).
PPDR are a powerful tool for local job creation (S5, O1), which in turn can be an efficacious means for facilitating a deeper involvement of local residents (S5, O11).
A qualitative SWOT analysis based on the literature review, personal knowledge and the opinions of a number (N=228) of wildfire experts using questionnaire surveys allowed to explore the national fire control apparatus in Algeria and identify its strengths and weakness. One of the more significant findings emerged from this study is that increasing suppression efforts alone will not solve the forest fire problem, especially in the future scenarios of higher fire risk, frequency and intensity and of increasing numbers of large fires in WUIs (
There are challenges and difficulties ahead, not least because wildfires are a very visible and immediate threat. This means that it is often more socially and politically expedient to commit resources to suppression activities than to address the issues involved in long-term fire prevention measures and management (
As a result of this study, Algerian foresters are aware of the opportunity to shift from a mere control policy to a more prevention-oriented one; they strongly call for a more pro-active approach on the part of the General Directorate of Forests. This viewpoint is in line with the opinions of foresters working in other countries. Forest fire prevention is actually considered to be one of the pillars of integrated, sustainable forest management (
Herein, we highlight the importance of the survey conducted among Algerian foresters. This is the first research paper for Algeria, and perhaps any MENA country, to have approached this sensitive subject. These foresters have an institutional monopoly on forest fire fighting and therefore refrain from publicly discussing their performance and opinions. Their collaborative participation in this survey is a cornerstone in the firefighting history of the country.
Most of the recommendations suggested, particularly those involving people from local communities, are fully applicable to other countries. The Community-Based Fire Management model (
We are grateful to the
The cloud of most frequently cited words (50 words).
Chi-squared test statistics of dependency between age, experience, and responses to the questionnaire. (df): degrees of freedom.
Dependency | χ² | df | 1-p (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Age/Experience | 194.82 | 9 | 99.99 |
Age/Grade | 54.87 | 18 | 99.99 |
Age/ |
124.76 | 78 | 99.94 |
Age/Budget (financial contribution to prevention) | 23.43 | 12 | 97.57 |
Age/Training | 26.33 | 12 | 99.04 |
Age/Detection | 53.45 | 27 | 99.82 |
Age/Cleaning, thinning and pruning of forests | 45.50 | 27 | 98.56 |
Experience/Grade | 59.96 | 18 | 99.99 |
Experience/ |
103.48 | 78 | 97.16 |
Experience/Detection | 44.15 | 27 | 98.01 |
Relevant factors identified in each SWOT category.
Strengths | Weaknesses |
---|---|
S1. Algeria has specific policies and laws for wildfire fightingS2. Importance of forest sector in local job creation S3. Important fire fighting apparatus mainly based on infrastructures (e.g., firebreaks, water points, lookout towers, forest roads and fire trails) S4. Reforestation program of 1 245 900 ha with an investment effort of U.S.$ 133 million S5. Projects of Rural Development (PPDR) for job creation | W1. Increasing frequency of large fires W2. Insufficient awareness of residents living in WUI areas W3. Increase in fire number within WUI areas W4. Increased number of fires caused by the careless burning of stubble, weeds and garbage W5. Insufficient maintenance of infrastructures W6. Inadequate regulations governing preventive measures W7. Protection against wildfires limited to fighting activities W8. Lack of funding for fire prevention through silvicultural measuresW9. The distribution of personnel not meeting the risk criteria W10. Lack of personnel in relation to the country’s forest extensionW11. Multiplicity of actors in fighting apparatus W12. Lack of adequate penalties against culprits in general forest legislation W13. Spontaneous and limited scope of awareness programs W14. Lack of weather stations W15. Non-involvement of citizens when faced with a fire W16. Lack of adequate training of personnel W17. Inadequate knowledge of high risk areas |
Opportunities | Threats |
O1. Creation of more jobs and income for local residentsO2. Dedicated legislation for the WUI areas O3. Increasing the extinction efficiency ensuring a fast attack; improvement of auxiliary tools (maps, GPS, etc.) O4. Management plans for all state forests O5. Increase the number and improve allocation of human resources; permanent training of technical staff O6. Use expert tactics and preventive fire in forest management O7. Severe fire police O8. Approval of the new Forestry Code O9. Finalization of the forest registry to update the ownership of forests O10. Information and awareness campaigns O11. Increase citizens’ awareness about consequences and social costs of fires O12. Introduce controlled grazing O13. Scientific and technical know-how on wildfire control | T1. Suppression-oriented actions more important than prevention T2. Forest belonging to no one in the mind of the average citizen T3. Loss of traditions in the knowledgeable use of fire T4. Increasing arson where the land is of great value T5. Land use changes cause an increasing number of fires T6. Overgrazing in forests T7. Climate change and thus expected risk that the phenomenon could worsen T8. Rural exodus and suburbanizationT9. Low level of interaction between researchers and managers T10. Forest management not given high priority on the political agenda |
Wildfires in Algeria: problems and challenges. (1) Management of wildfires (Mean and Std. Dev.); (2) Prevention of forest fires; (3) Rating of techniques and activities aimed at the prevention of wildfires (average ± Std. Dev.); (4) Possible conflicts.