Living with fire has long been part of human-environment relationships in the Balkans. For centuries, rural communities developed ways of managing land that acknowledged fire as a threat. Today, as landscape fires become more frequent and severe, there is renewed...
Mosaic landscape is a type of landscape characterized by a patchwork of forests, grasslands, agricultural fields, and shrublands and play a critical role in reducing landscape risk in the Balkans. Unlike large, continuous expanses of dense vegetation, these...
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...
Alongside sustainable grazing practices, the Landscape Fire Management in the Western Balkans Programme emphasizes agroforestry - the intentional integration of trees, shrubs, and crops into farmland and pasture systems, as a vital approach to building fire-resilient...
Landscape fires - including wildfires, landscape fires, forest fires, and grassland fires - are becoming more frequent, intense, and unpredictable as a result of climate change, unsustainable land-use practices, and human activities. While fire is a natural ecological...
Landscape fires are becoming an increasingly urgent challenge in the Western Balkans. Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and shifting rainfall patterns caused by climate change are creating conditions that make fires more frequent, more intense, and more...
Landscape fires are an increasing concern in many regions, including the Western Balkans, where hot, dry summers create the perfect conditions for fires to ignite and spread. When it comes to managing these fires, there are two very different approaches: prevention...
Key messages Nearly 70,000 hectares burned across the region in the first half of 2025. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia experienced the most severe fire conditions to date. 90% of fires human-caused; weak early-warning systems persist. Urgent need to shift from...
In the face of increasing landscape fire risk across the Western Balkans, one of the most promising solutions lies not in hoses or helicopters - but in hooves and hedges. Grazing and agroforestry, long-standing traditional practices in the region, are being...
Creating fire-resilient landscapes in the Western Balkans requires a strategic blend of ecological, social, and policy-driven approaches. The increasing frequency and severity of landscape fires in the region, largely driven by climate change and human activity, call...