During the night of August 14, a wildfire started in the largest moorland in Europe, the High Fens between Belgium and Germany, and quickly expanded, forcing evacuations in villages on both sides of the border. Despite extensive deployment of firefighter personnel and means, including some from neighboring countries, the fire continues to burn, due, on one side, to the lack of heavy rains, and on the other side to the phenomenon of “zombie” fires, in which the deeper layer of turf begins to self-combust.
The High Fens reservation (600 square km) is subject to EU nature-protection laws (the so-called Natura 2000), which ban pre-emptive measures that would make evacuations unnecessary and allow circumscribing the fire. The basic preventive measure, the creation of broad fire-breaking faults, is forbidden by EU laws!
The foundation for all strict nature-preservation laws across the member states is the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). Article 6(2) of the Directive mandates that member states must take appropriate steps to avoid the deterioration of natural habitats as well as the disturbance of the species for which the areas have been designated. This directive forms the basis of the European Natura 2000 network, to which the High Fens belongs. Because clearing huge permanent strips of land down to the raw soil constitutes a legal “deterioration” of a protected habitat type, it is heavily restricted. (Instead, watering the moor is recommended, which, of course, is impossible in a drought period!)
