Forest Growth and Human Stupidity Led to France's Wildfires

Today, the leadership of Finland's Natural Resources Institute (Luke) stated that the increasing number of forest fires in Europe and North America is due not only to global warming but also, to a large extent, to the steadily growing carbon stock that has accumulated in forests over several decades. According to them, this is the result of two main factors: increasingly effective wildfire suppression and reduced use of forests through timber harvesting.

As a remedy, the authors propose increasing the volume of the forest industry, cleaning up logging residues after harvesting, and carrying out prescribed burns. In other words, they advocate many of the same measures that President Donald Trump mentioned several years ago in connection with California's wildfires.

But good heavens—wouldn't that also mean more jobs for people and more taxable income for the public sector? Surely that couldn't be acceptable! Or could it?

In any case, the authors' perspective is like a breath of fresh air in the stale forest policy debate that has long been dominated by nature conservation and environmental advocacy groups. If for no other reason, it would be encouraging to see political decision-makers around the world—or at least in Finland—take their views seriously.

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Luke's assessment is scientifically well-founded, but it is not the whole story. It overlooks one important factor in the ignition of forest fires: human stupidity.

The wildfires that have struck France in recent days provide a clear example. Many of them have been started by people—either deliberately or through carelessness. In fact, the majority of all forest fires are caused by human activity.

There is only one remedy for that: using common sense when spending time in nature. That, in turn, requires both awareness of the risks and the ability to act rationally. It remains to be seen whether the people of France will rise to that challenge—or whether devastating wildfires will become a recurring tragedy there.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Challenging What We Think We Know: Wildfires Reveal the Power of Science
Control of Douglas fir beetles by woodborer beetles
Forests in Indonesia and Finland