FIRE-FEUER-FOGO

German Português

MEDI-DATE with the ELEMENTS

Fire brings warmth and light and ashes can make the soil fertile and clean.

The Problem

Massive forest fires contributed to global forest dieback in 2021. Last year, more than 253500 square kilometers of forest land disappeared on Earth, an area 6 times the size of the Netherlands.
Statistically, six times as many forest fires are caused by humans than by natural causes. The most common causes of natural forest fires are volcanoes, lightning, spontaneous combustion, and sparks from falling rocks. On average, there are between 60,000 and 80,000 forest fires each year, destroying 3 to 10 million hectares of grassland in their wake.

Did you know?

Forest fires can serve to remove dead or decaying material in the forest, which in turn allows for increased growth of new plants and makes the soil fertile.
Forest fires are also useful for maintaining balance in an ecosystem by removing harmful insects and diseased plants.
An added benefit of removing plants is the increase in sunlight, which can promote the regeneration of plant seeds.