The 2023 summer season was marked by an unprecedented drought and numerous wildfires that affected the entire Mediterranean basin, putting the national civil protection systems in the area under stress, with an important factor of simultaneity. The climate change conjuncture will intensify the number and magnitude of wildfires in the Mediterranean basin.

A workshop dedicated to the prevention and fight against forest and natural area fires represents added value because it is part of: (i) Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in development, (ii) taking into account a growing and destructive natural risk in a context of climate change, and (iii) a specificity of fire typologies linked to topography and plant categories.

The Mediterranean Framework on Civil Protection (MFCP) is an initiative of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) supported by the European Commission aimed at strengthening collaboration between the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region in matters of prevention, preparedness, and response to natural and man-made disasters. Its objective is to effectively combine capabilities to anticipate disasters via early warning systems and respond to future challenges in a collaborative, organized, coherent and non-binding manner.

Continuing the work of the UfM regional platform on civil protection, in collaboration with DG ECHO and the ONPC, this workshop is part of the 2030 UfM Action Plan, complementing the PPRD MED roadmap.

It aims first of all to try to define cross-border operational protocols for preventing and fighting fires between the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean, with the participation of the European countries of the northern Mediterranean shore, ahead of the summer season 2024.