Expert: Algeria Fires Burned UNESCO-listed Park

A man walks past a dead animal lying on the ground following a wildfire in El Kala, in Al Taref province, Algeria, Aug. 18, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
A man walks past a dead animal lying on the ground following a wildfire in El Kala, in Al Taref province, Algeria, Aug. 18, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
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Expert: Algeria Fires Burned UNESCO-listed Park

A man walks past a dead animal lying on the ground following a wildfire in El Kala, in Al Taref province, Algeria, Aug. 18, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
A man walks past a dead animal lying on the ground following a wildfire in El Kala, in Al Taref province, Algeria, Aug. 18, 2022. (Reuters Photo)

More than 10 percent of a UNESCO-listed biosphere reserve has been destroyed by fires that tore through northeastern Algeria, killing at least 38 people, an expert told AFP on Saturday.

The figure cited by Rafik Baba Ahmed, former director of the El Kala Biosphere Reserve, means that the burned area of the park alone is almost double what the civil defense service said has been destroyed throughout Africa's largest country since June.

Algeria's northeast was particularly hard-hit since Wednesday by blazes exacerbated by climate change, but the fire service on Saturday said most of the fires there had been put out.

"The Wednesday fires damaged around 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres)" of the park, Baba Ahmed said.

According to the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO, El Kala Biosphere Reserve covers more than 76,000 hectares.

It is the last refuge of the Barbary Red Deer and "home to a very remarkable bird life, more than 60,000 migratory birds every winter", UNESCO's website says.

"It is (a) mosaic of marine, dune, lake and forest ecosystems, with its marine strip rich in corals, Posidonia meadows and fish," UNESCO says.

According to Baba Ahmed, forest covers 54,000 hectares of the park and most of the trees are cork oak.

"It is considered one of the main biodiversity reserves in the Mediterranean basin," he said, extolling its "exceptional biological richness".

But Baba Ahmed said he was "very pessimistic" about the future of the area regularly damaged by forest fires.

"Over time the fires weaken the forest, making it vulnerable to other attacks: harmful insects but especially to human activities."

As a consequence, the area loses its flora and fauna, the forestry expert added.

Civil Defense Colonel Boualem Boughlef said on television Friday night that since June 1, 1,242 fires had destroyed 5,345 hectares of woodlands in Algeria.

Baba Ahmed said that figure is not realistic.

While Algeria's northeastern fires have been largely extinguished, firefighters fought two blazes on the other side of the country in Tlemcen, in the far west, the civil defense said Saturday on its Facebook page.

The fires led Algerians both at home and in the diaspora to collect clothing, medicines and food to help those affected.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has also offered support, and French President Emmanuel Macron called his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to express his condolences "for the victims of the fires", state news agency APS reported on Saturday.

Spain and Portugal too fought massive wildfires over the past week, including in another UNESCO-listed park where more than 25,000 hectares were estimated to have been scorched.



Report: California Governor Requests $40 Billion for Fire Aid

An aerial view shows the devastation from the Palisades Fire on beachfront homes Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP)
An aerial view shows the devastation from the Palisades Fire on beachfront homes Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP)
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Report: California Governor Requests $40 Billion for Fire Aid

An aerial view shows the devastation from the Palisades Fire on beachfront homes Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP)
An aerial view shows the devastation from the Palisades Fire on beachfront homes Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP)

California Governor Gavin Newsom is asking Congress for nearly $40 billion in disaster funding to help Los Angeles recover and rebuild areas scorched by last month's devastating wildfires, the Washington Post reported on Friday citing a letter.

"It's going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to rebuild from the devastating fires in LA," Newsom said in a post on social media platform X that tagged the report.

"I'm asking Congress to have the back of the American people and provide disaster funding to help Californians recover and rebuild as soon as possible," he said, confirming the letter first reported by the Washington Post.

The Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and Altadena on the eastern flank of the metropolis were the sites of the worst of the January blazes. At least 29 people died in the fires that damaged or destroyed more than 16,000 structures.

"The total impact on California's economy will take years to fully quantify," Newsom wrote in the letter to congressional leaders according to the newspaper report.

Newsom also said in the letter that California may request more funds in the future, but that the dollars requested "will directly support these communities in both the immediate and long-term recovery work needed to rebuild lives and properties."

The biggest part of the funding request includes $16.8 billion to cover fire response costs, debris removal, and the repair of roads, bridges, public buildings and utilities, according to the report.

Newsom also asked for an additional $9.9 billion to help rebuild housing and infrastructure, the report said.

In a meeting with US President Donald Trump earlier this month, the California Governor urged him to support federal disaster relief for his state.

Private forecaster AccuWeather projects damage and economic losses from the wildfires at more than $250 billion, which would make them the costliest natural disaster in US history.