Еxtreme weather events such as long-lasting droughts create conditions for devastating fires. Climate change, land-use change, and the rural exodus are increasing the ecosystem’s vulnerability to landscape fires in the Western Balkans (WB), which represents one of the most affected regions in Europe by landscape fires (LFs).
To mitigate the negative impacts of LFs in the WB, the Landscape Fire Management in the Western Balkans (LFMWB) Programme financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – SDC aims to increase the resilience of Western Balkan forests and landscapes against fires to benefit the people who depend on these landscapes for their livelihoods and socioeconomic development.
The LFMWB Programme within the period of 2022-2026 focuses on the following outcomes:
The Western Balkans united with the common goal of increasing resilience of forests and landscapes against fires.
Representatives of the SDC’s LFMWB Programme team participated at the International Scientific Conference “GREDIT 2026 – Green Development, Green Infrastructure, Green Technology”, held on 27-28 April in Skopje at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Ss. Cyril...
On 23 April 2026, representatives of key landscape fire management (LFM) institutions and organisations gathered in Sarajevo to initiate the development of policy guidelines for LFM in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The meeting, held...
A participative process to develop national policy guidelines for landscape fire management (LFM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republika Srpska) has officially been launched, bringing together key stakeholders to jointly define a more coordinated approach to landscape...
Smoke produced by landscape fires represents one of the most significant yet often overlooked environmental threats to ecosystems and public health in the Western Balkan region. When forests, grasslands, and agricultural areas burn, enormous quantities of smoke...
Landscape fires have become an increasingly significant environmental hazard across the Western Balkan region, affecting forests, agricultural land, infrastructure, and communities. Beyond the direct ecological damage, these fires also have substantial consequences...
In 2025, landscape fires emerged as one of the most persistent and underestimated systemic risks in the Western Balkans. Prolonged heatwaves, drought conditions, land abandonment and limited institutional capacity combined to produce one of the most severe regional...
