ALGIERS: More than 10% of a UNESCO biosphere reserve has been destroyed by fires that have ravaged northeastern Algeria, killing at least 38 people, an expert told AFP on Saturday .
The figure quoted by Rafik Baba Ahmed, former director of El Kala Biosphere Reservemeans the area burned in the park alone is almost double what the Civil Defense Service has said has been destroyed in Africa’s largest country since June.
Northeastern Algeria has been hit particularly hard since Wednesday by fires exacerbated by climate change, but firefighters said on Saturday that most fires there had been extinguished.
“Wednesday’s fires damaged about 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres)” of the park, Baba Ahmed said.
According to UNESCO, the cultural agency of the United Nations, the El Kala Biosphere Reserve covers more than 76,000 hectares.
It is the last refuge of the Barbary deer and “is home to a very remarkable avifauna, more than 60,000 migratory birds each winter”, indicates the UNESCO site.
According to Baba Ahmed, the forest covers 54,000 hectares of the park and most of the trees are cork oaks.
“It is considered one of the main reserves of biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin”, he says, “very pessimistic” about the future of the region.
Civil Defense Colonel Boualem Boughlef said on television Friday night that 1,242 fires have destroyed 5,345 hectares of forests in Algeria since June 1.
Baba Ahmed said this figure is unrealistic.
The figure quoted by Rafik Baba Ahmed, former director of El Kala Biosphere Reservemeans the area burned in the park alone is almost double what the Civil Defense Service has said has been destroyed in Africa’s largest country since June.
Northeastern Algeria has been hit particularly hard since Wednesday by fires exacerbated by climate change, but firefighters said on Saturday that most fires there had been extinguished.
“Wednesday’s fires damaged about 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres)” of the park, Baba Ahmed said.
According to UNESCO, the cultural agency of the United Nations, the El Kala Biosphere Reserve covers more than 76,000 hectares.
It is the last refuge of the Barbary deer and “is home to a very remarkable avifauna, more than 60,000 migratory birds each winter”, indicates the UNESCO site.
According to Baba Ahmed, the forest covers 54,000 hectares of the park and most of the trees are cork oaks.
“It is considered one of the main reserves of biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin”, he says, “very pessimistic” about the future of the region.
Civil Defense Colonel Boualem Boughlef said on television Friday night that 1,242 fires have destroyed 5,345 hectares of forests in Algeria since June 1.
Baba Ahmed said this figure is unrealistic.
