Nicosia: Cyprus must transition from a fragmented approach to wildfires to a comprehensive strategy focused on prevention, land management, and climate adaptation, embedding wildfire risk across various policy areas including spatial planning, agriculture, water management, and civil protection. This is according to a report by the European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC).
According to Cyprus News Agency, the EASAC report, titled 'Changing Wildfires in Europe,' was presented in Nicosia during an event organized by the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts and hosted by The Cyprus Institute. The report highlights wildfires as one of the most pressing climate-related risks facing Cyprus and the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.
The report warns that Cyprus is already experiencing wildfire impacts that surpass earlier climate projections, driven by hotter summers, drier winters, prolonged drought, and changes in land use that lead to the accumulation of flammable biomass. Across Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean, wildfires are increasing in frequency, intensity, and destructiveness, affecting forests, farmland, Natura 2000 sites, communities, and the wildland-urban interface, with social, environmental, and economic repercussions.
Findings were presented by the report's lead authors, Dr. Thomas Elmqvist from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Environment Director of EASAC, and Dr. Orsolya Valko from the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary. Professor Efthymios Lekkas of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens also participated in the discussion, sharing his expertise in disaster management and adaptation.
EASAC notes that EU and national policies still primarily focus on fire suppression and emergency response. While essential, suppression alone is insufficient in a warming climate. The report advocates for a shift towards proactive, risk-based land and landscape management, integrating wildfire risk into spatial planning and climate adaptation, increasing investment in prevention, fuel management, and resilient landscapes, and enhancing public awareness and fire literacy.
For Cyprus, the report emphasizes the importance of systematically integrating wildfire risk into climate adaptation strategies, forestry and agricultural policy, water management, and civil protection planning, considering the island's high exposure and limited natural defenses.
The report also stresses the importance of regional cooperation, highlighting wildfires as a priority under the Eastern Mediterranean-Middle East Climate Initiative (EMME-CCI). Recent fire seasons have shown that wildfire risk transcends national borders, requiring coordinated regional approaches. EASAC identifies shared monitoring, modelling, risk assessment, and scenario development as areas where regional cooperation can be more effective.
Technological advances create new opportunities for risk assessment and early warning. High-resolution satellite imagery combined with climate modelling enables near-real-time mapping of biomass, vegetation stress, and landscape change, helping scientists understand how rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and extreme weather influence wildfire behavior. Part of this modelling work is already being conducted at The Cyprus Institute, reinforcing Cyprus's role as a regional center of excellence in climate and wildfire research.
Early-warning systems that integrate satellite observations, meteorological forecasts, and artificial intelligence can detect small ignitions, identify high-risk zones, and support quicker responses and targeted evacuations, minimizing damage to lives, ecosystems, and livelihoods in Cyprus and the region.
Beyond the report's policy recommendations, Cyprus is seen as having a strategic opportunity to enhance its regional role in wildfire preparedness and coordination. The European Union's decision to establish a Wildfire Hub based in Cyprus is described as an opportunity to bolster firefighting capacity and support prevention, preparedness, and cross-border coordination, grounded in scientific evidence.