Following the wildfires that struck Jijel, Bejaia, Skikda, and several eastern wilayas, international environmental and climate change expert Besma Belbedjaoui warns in this interview with Le Jeune Independant about a now “systemic” vulnerability of forest ecosystems. Confronted with this reality, she calls for moving beyond sole emergency response logic to focus on anticipation, ecological restoration, and climate adaptation, aiming to make territories less flammable and populations less exposed to fire damage.
Le Jeune Independant: The wildfires that struck Jijel, Bejaia, Skikda, and several other eastern wilayas reached considerable proportions. In your view, what do these fires reveal about the current vulnerability of forest ecosystems?
Besma Belbedjaoui: These blazes demonstrate first that forest vulnerability has become systemic. Consequently, we must stop viewing each fire as an isolated event and recognize it as a risk resulting from combined factors—including extreme temperatures, underbrush drought, water deficits, high winds, and biomass accumulation. Algeria currently faces climate conditions that elevate fire propagation speeds, while territorial degradation increases flammability. Recent research on Algerian forests highlights this intersection between climate change, land degradation, and ecosystem vulnerability. We must alter our pragmatic approach. The core issue is no longer simply how to extinguish a fire, but how to render our land less flammable and our citizens less exposed. That is a fundamental distinction. While we must continuously strengthen emergency intervention capabilities, forest resilience is built long before ignition occurs.
What are the most alarming ecological consequences these fires risk leaving behind regarding biodiversity, soils, water resources, or ecosystem balances?
The primary error is evaluating damage strictly by burned hectares. A wildfire does not merely destroy vegetation cover; it can disrupt ecosystem operations for years. We are dealing with highly complex environments. First comes the destruction of biodiversity and habitats, the loss of endemic species, the fragmentation of ecological corridors, and the disruption of food chains. Second is soil degradation. Deprived of vegetative cover and exposed to extreme heat, land suffers heightened erosion during initial autumn rains. This represents a critical issue for Algeria, as losing fertile topsoil is far harder to reverse than losing plant cover. The third challenge involves water resources. Forests play a vital role in water infiltration, runoff regulation, and watershed protection. Following a severe fire, erosion risks escalate dramatically, leading to degraded water quality. Finally, there is the hidden loss of ecosystem services, specifically carbon storage. Forests act as vital carbon sinks, regulate microclimates, protect topsoil, and support rural economies. The fundamental question is not merely how many hectares burned, but how many ecological functions were compromised.
Following the destruction, forest restoration arises. What is the optimal strategy to restore affected areas? Should we simply reforest destroyed surfaces, or rethink ecosystem recovery by prioritizing adapted species and natural regeneration?
I advise caution against the immediate impulse to replant trees just because a forest burned. Restoring a forest is not merely planting trees; it is re-establishing a functional ecosystem. First, we require precise ecological diagnostics mapping fire intensity, soil health, natural regeneration capacity, residual biodiversity, erosion threats, and hydrological vulnerability. Where natural regeneration is viable, it must take priority. In severely degraded zones where ecological functions are compromised, active restoration interventions become necessary. We must move away from uniform reforestation schemes. Species selection must reflect local ecological conditions, drought tolerance, and functional roles within complex ecosystems. I advocate for climate-resilient ecological restoration rather than basic reforestation. The objective should not be recreating yesterday’s forest, but constructing ecosystems capable of enduring tomorrow’s climate.
The recurring nature of these fires raises questions about current prevention policies. What concrete steps should be implemented before next summer to protect these regions?
Rather than public policy failure, I view this as a shift in risk magnitude to which our system must adapt. Algeria has significantly bolstered its emergency intervention capacities since 2021, doubling operational deployments. Recent metrics demonstrate the scale of this mobilization. However, recurring events compel us to advance further before next summer. We must establish dynamic risk mapping, identify priority zones, and manage vegetative fuels—specifically access corridors, forest-habitat interfaces, and critical points. Furthermore, we must enhance early monitoring through remote sensing, satellite data, drones where relevant, meteorological networks, and artificial intelligence to better anticipate fire conditions. Finally, we must address the human-forest interface, as many forested areas encompass inhabited, agricultural, and pastoral lands. Prevention must become an integrated territorial policy rather than an isolated forestry initiative. The most effective strategy against mega-fires begins months before the fire season.
Given mounting climate risks, are we still stuck in a reactive mindset during fire outbreaks when we should invest more in anticipation and territorial adaptation? What three priority measures should be established immediately?
While a strong emergency response culture persists, climate realities force us to invest heavily in anticipation, prevention, and adaptation. If I were to isolate three immediate priorities: First, understand the risk before it escalates into a disaster. We need a national, integrated, dynamic risk monitoring system combining meteorological data, long-term climate modeling, vegetation dryness levels, topography, land use, and historical fire patterns. We must transition from static maps to genuine territorial intelligence. Second, reduce territorial combustibility. This requires managing flammable vegetation, maintaining strategic infrastructure and access points, securing forest-settlement boundaries, and restoring degraded areas. Prevention must be treated as an investment rather than an expense. Third, foster a national culture of resilience involving institutions, local authorities, farmers, residents, civil society, researchers, and the private sector. We must prepare populations, refine evacuation protocols, and streamline inter-agency coordination. Climate change does not condemn us to suffer endless fires; it demands that we manage risk differently. Algeria possesses exceptional expertise and experienced crisis management institutions. The mandate now is supplementing reaction speed with advanced anticipation, transitioning from fire suppression to a national policy of climate risk resilience.