“Do not believe that an additional standard will solve the problem”, says the Minister of Agriculture

“We must not think that we will solve the forest fires of 2023 with additional regulations in 2023”, estimated Sunday May 14 the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau, guest of Political Questions on France Inter, franceinfo.tv and Le Monde. The drought currently affecting the south of France raises fears of a new summer marked by wildfires.

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In 2022, 72,000 hectares including 60,000 hectares of forests went up in smoke in France, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition. “Let’s not believe that an additional standard necessarily solves the problem”, continued Marc Fesneau.

“It takes arms, it takes time”

“We are not here to respond only to the immediacy of the fires next summer”insisted the Minister of Agriculture, who said “especially wish that there are fewer fires in 2050”. “We need not only to think about forest fires, but we also need to renew 30% to 40% of French forests. For that, we need arms, we need time”.

“From now on, we are better equipped to fight fires”, finally assured Marc Fesneau, referring to the release of an envelope of “150 million euros to renew the forest heritage”.