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The DGF on the alert.
The national campaign for the prevention and fight against forest fires has distinguished itself by a positive assessment, according to the Director General of Forests (DGF), Djamel Touahria, who salutes the efficiency of human and material resources deployed this season.
Since the beginning of May, 390 fires have been recorded across the country and have all been completely circumscribed. These claims touched 1789 ha, mainly private land. The figure is down compared to the same period of 2024, when 1950 ha had been ravaged.
The distribution of damage is as follows: approximately 630 ha of forests, 150 ha of fruit trees, and the rest made up of thunderbolt and bushes. The most important claim was noted in Djaafra, in the wilaya of Bordj Bou Arréridj, with 705 hectares destroyed. The fire could be mastered despite an accidental relief and a dense forest covering 34,000 ha.
For Mr. Touahria, this assessment is “very positive” compared to other countries of the Mediterranean basin, such as Spain, France, Turkey or Syria, which this year experienced heavy damage linked to fires.
The success of this campaign is awarded to the mobilization of 6,000 agents, to the use of rapid intervention vehicles, firefighters and trenches, control towers and water pools allowing immediate interventions.
The integration of new technologies, especially drones, has strengthened monitoring and speed of action.
The DGF benefited from the contribution of higher education establishments and start-ups, which have developed innovative early alert systems. Among them, a system of the Médéa Development Development Center (CDTA), capable of scanning the horizon thanks to a rotary system and detecting smoke from a fire from a distance. A start-up has also designed a network of surveillance cameras to transmit data in real time and the location of households.
In parallel, the DGF continues its vast rehabilitation and extension of the green dam. To date, more than 25,200 ha have been reforested on the 400,000 planned by 2030.
The program includes the fight against the saphable thanks to modern techniques for fixing dunes and the creation of nurseries in the wilayas concerned. Particular attention is paid to the extension and protection of cork oaks to relaunch production and restore the leader’s position in Algeria in this Mediterranean sector.
Finally, 2,000 hectares will be dedicated to the planting of carob trees and other species with an industrial vocation, including for the exploitation of wood.