Reacción a "Wildfires in 2025 burned more than one million hectares across the European Union, with nearly half of that area located on the Iberian Peninsula"

Many Mediterranean ecosystems are pyrophilic. In other words, they are not only resilient to fire, but their biodiversity and functionality depend on the recurring presence of fires. Many plant species have developed mechanisms for survival and regeneration that are triggered only by fire. This interdependence extends to wildlife, which finds vital ecological niches in landscapes shaped by fire. However, the positive relationship between biodiversity and fire is delicate and depends on a precise balance in the fire regime. The scale of the 2025 wildfires, with nearly 700,000 hectares affected across Spain and Portugal, deviates from this balance and is truly alarming. The European Commission’s JRC-EFFIS report suggests climatic factors (fire weather index) as explanatory factors for this magnitude. However, the extent and severity of a fire depend not only on the weather, but also on the continuity and flammability of the vegetation the fire encounters in its path. Anthropogenic modifications to the landscape through extensive and homogeneous forest plantations, primarily of pine and eucalyptus, have created a highly dangerous architecture of combustible biomass.    

The JRC-EFFIS report indicates that the land cover types with the largest burned area in Spain and Portugal are not coniferous forests—which include forest plantations—but rather what is termed “other natural land,” which includes scrublands and grasslands. This appears to contradict the previous statement. However, we know that forest plantations are associated with the highest levels of fire severity, which facilitates the ignition of adjacent vegetation and, above all, compromises natural post-fire regeneration. For much of the 20th century, natural environment management in the Iberian Peninsula prioritized afforestation and reforestation over structural diversity in the natural environment. This has led to a loss of landscape heterogeneity and biodiversity associated with an increase in highly flammable biomass, heightening the risk of catastrophic fires, especially under extreme conditions of aridity and high temperatures. Understanding that landscape homogenization is a determining factor in the extent and severity of fires is essential for transitioning toward a land management approach that reduces the vulnerability of our ecosystems and strengthens their resilience and functionality in the face of the new climate scenario.