Lommel (Brussels Morning Newspaper) -Nature and Forest systems, together with emergency services, issue warnings about wildfires because of the dry conditions of our present spring season. During Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Environment Jo Broun’s (CD&V) tour through the North Limburg emergency services zone, the statement was made.
The dry spring weather has caused the Agency for Nature and Forests, together with emergency services, to issue continued warnings about elevated wildfire threats. The situation remained severe, according to Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Environment Jo Brouns (CD&V) during his emergency services visit to North Limburg. According to the zone, they plan to deploy smart cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) systems to detect wildfires at an early stage.
“This is a serious situation, our nature reserves are at risk due to the current weather conditions,”
said Minister Jo Brouns.
“I ask you to follow the recommendations of Nature and Forests closely and therefore never make fire or smoke in our nature. I also want to work on a policy plan to better arm ourselves against wildfires in the future. I am thinking of innovation for faster detection of fires, but also of sustainable methods to combat drought, such as planting climate-robust tree species.”
“We are taking all sorts of measures to prevent it from starting to burn,”
explained Koen Thijs of the Agency for Nature and Forests.
“That starts with good management of the heathland so that there is not too much gasification. We also have rewetting projects so that the heathland remains moist.”
In various places, the employees have also started planting deciduous trees.
“The Pijnven in the National Park Bosland is very well-known for its coniferous forest complexes of Corsican and Scots pine,”
says Koen Thijs.
“We want to transform them more quickly to ensure that they are climate-robust, drought-resistant and biodiverse. We do this by planting numerous native deciduous trees and protecting them from deer by placing wooden structures around them.”
The North Limburg fire zone and the Agency for Nature and Forests have also joined the Hawkeye pilot project, which uses smart cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect potential fires.
“With our technological partners and the National Crisis Center, we are developing technology that should help us to detect a fire very quickly and determine exactly where it is burning,”
explains commander Jan Jorissen.
“That way, we can get to the fire much faster and extinguish it faster, because it is still small.”
“The groundwater is also dropping very quickly due to the drought, especially in the west of the country,”
says Katrien Smet of the Flemish Environment Agency.
“In the east, in Limburg, the situation is less alarming and the groundwater level is still normal in most places.”
What is the historical wildfire data and drought situation in Flanders?
Recent years have brought rising wildfire threats to Flanders because of extreme drought patterns. The Flemish Environment Agency confirmed that 2020 marked the driest spring season in at least 100 years, when precipitation levels reached 60% below normal measures.
The Flanders region sustained wildfires, which burned 1,200 hectares of land during 2022, representing a 40% increase beyond the normal five-year averages of previous years. More than 300 wildfires have burned in Limburg province during 2023 so far, and heathlands proved to be most susceptible to fires because of their dry, flammable plant life.
The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) data reveals that Flanders, together with Belgium, has experienced increasing fire danger scales starting from 2018, leading to maximum risks during April and May. Data from the National Crisis Center showed human activity causes 70% of wildfires throughout the area because individuals toss away their cigarettes and fail to care for their campfires.
The Flemish Environment Agency reports that western Flanders experienced a 15-20% decline in groundwater levels since 2020, yet Limburg retains stable water reserves because its sandy soils maintain effective water retention.
The Hawkeye AI detection system operates within North Limburg as a pilot project after proving its success in the Netherlands, where the technology helped emergency responders cut wildfire response speed by 30%.
The Flemish government dedicated €5 million in 2024 for wildfire prevention by funding early warning systems as well as firebreaks and climate-resistant reforestation projects. The initiatives follow EU climate adaptation guidelines because Flanders wants to minimise wildfire-caused destruction by 25% by the year 2030.
