After decades of neglect in the forests, the discussion on fires can no longer remain limited to reacting once the flames have already broken out. Attention has turned to the need for a probabilistic risk map as a planning tool ahead of the next season, in a country where difficult terrain and degraded maintenance make every summer more exposed.
Long-term neglect in the forests
The assessment presented is direct: over the past 35 years, forest maintenance has been severely neglected. According to this view, restoring past standards could take just as long as the time lost over these decades.
This assessment raises serious questions about how forests and shrub-covered areas have been treated over the years, especially in the face of a risk that is now tied not only to human carelessness, but also to increasingly harsh climate conditions.
Why a probabilistic map is being requested
Under current conditions, with global warming increasing the likelihood of fires, it has been proposed that the Ministry of Defense set up a working group to draft a probabilistic wildfire risk map.
Such an instrument would aim to identify in advance the most exposed areas, so that anti-fire interventions do not remain merely seasonal improvisation, but are instead supported by planning and prevention.
Coordination between institutions remains the real test
According to the proposal, such a map could be prepared for the next season through coordination among the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Interior and the Meteorological Service.
The challenge remains major for Albania, where about 80% of the territory is described as hilly-mountainous and covered with shrubs and forests. It is precisely here that any plan on paper matters only if it is accompanied by real field capacity and clear institutional responsibilities.
Not only a summer response, but sustainable maintenance
Beyond the risk map, the emphasis is on the underlying problem: forest maintenance. Without continuous intervention, cleaning, monitoring and local organization, every summer is expected to bring the same consequences and the same delayed debate.
The message is clear: the government must start thinking now about restoring forest maintenance, to avoid the degradation of recent decades becoming an accepted normality.
The debate over forest fires is no longer linked only to the fate of one summer season, but to the gaps accumulated over the years in territorial management.
If institutions treat this warning seriously, the test will lie less in statements and more in concrete measures before next summer begins.