The 2008 Borjomi wildfires started in the Borjomi Gorge, Georgia on August 15, 2008 and lasted for several days to come, destroying 250 hectares (620 acres) of the 75,000 hectares (190,000 acres) [1] Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, one of the largest national parks in Europe. [2]
The fire started in the concluding days of the hostilities during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, some 80 km far from the conflict area. [3] Eyewitnesses reported camouflage-painted helicopters in the sky just before the fire erupted. [4] Georgia accused Russia of bombing the area and deliberating starting a fire using incendiary devices, describing it as an ecocide. Russia's Defence Ministry denied bombing the forests and said that they would help the Georgians extinguish the fires if requested. Despite Turkish and Ukrainian aid, the firefighting efforts were complicated by the ongoing conflict and airspace restrictions. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
According to the government of Georgia,
"the fire spread to over 950 hectares of forest land. An area of 250 hectares was totally destroyed, and 150 000 m³ of standing trees were lost. As a result, the forest's ecosystem lost its ecological function, as well as commercial value. In the affected area, endemic and other species were almost completely destroyed, including Himalayan yew, spruce, abies, pine, beech, oak, hornbeam and many varieties of forest wildlife.... The fauna of the region experienced significant damage as well." [10]
The Borjomi wildfire alarmed international environmental organizations. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) called on "all parties capable of helping put out forest fires in central Georgia to work together to extinguish them." [11] The PAN Parks network, of which the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park is a member, sent a latter to the Russian Minister of Natural Resources, expressing its concerns that the "recent bombing in Borjomi district resulted in a forest fire, which threatens Borjomi Kharagauli National Park." [12] The World Bank expressed its "grave concern the reports of forest fires in the Borjomi area of Georgia" and sent an assessment team in the area. [13] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe-UNEP mission will also assess the damage caused by fire, including in the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park and adjacent forested areas. [14]
Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population of 11,173. Located 165 km from Tbilisi, it is one of the six municipalities of the Samtskhe–Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge on the eastern edge of Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. The town is noted for its mineral water industry, the Romanov summer palace in Likani and Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Borjomi mineral water is particularly well-known in Georgia as well as other countries that were part of the former Soviet Union; the bottling of mineral water is a major source of income for the area. Because of the supposed curative powers of the area's mineral springs, it is a frequent destination for people with health problems. Borjomi is also home to the most extensive ecologically-themed amusement park in the Caucasus.
Meskheti Range is a part of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range in Meskheti region, in southwestern Georgia.
Borjomi Gorge is a picturesque canyon of the Kura River in central Georgia. The gorge was formed as a result of the Kura River cutting its path through the Lesser Caucasus Mountains where the Trialeti and Meskheti Ranges meet. A significant portion of the Borjomi Gorge is covered by mixed and coniferous forests made up of oak, maple, beech, spruce, fir, and pine. A large portion of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park lies within the gorge, as well as the towns of Likani and Borjomi itself. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline cuts through a portion of the gorge.
The Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (BKNP) is a protected area in central Georgia, in Samtskhe-Javakheti situated in the Lesser Caucasus, southwest to the nation's capital of Tbilisi. Its ecoregion is that of the Caucasus mixed forests.
Likani is a townlet in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region, located at the west end of the town of Borjomi in the Borjomi Municipality, some 160 km west of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. Likani is adjacent to the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park and is a popular mountain spa.
Borjomi is a brand of naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of central Georgia. The artesian springs in the valley are fed by water that filters from glaciers covering the peaks of the Bakuriani mountains at altitudes of up to 2,300 m (7,500 ft). The water rises to the surface without pumping and is transported by pipes to two bottling plants in the town of Borjomi.
Kharagauli Municipality is a district of Georgia, in the region of Imereti. Its main town is Kharagauli. It has an area of 914 km2. As of the 2014 census, its population was 19,473.
Borjomi is a municipality in southern Georgia, in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti with a population of 24,998 (2021). Its main town and administrative center is Borjomi and it has an area of 1,189 km2 (459 sq mi). Borjomi municipality is located on the territory of the historical Tori.
Abastumani is a small town (daba) and climatic spa in Adigeni Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia. It is located on the southern slopes of the Meskheti Range, in the small river valley of Otskhe, 25 km northeast of Adigeni and 28 km west of Akhaltsikhe. As of the 2014 census, it had a population of 937. The Georgian National Astrophysical Observatory is located at Abastumani.
The 2010 Russian wildfires were several hundred wildfires that broke out across Russia, primarily in the west in summer 2010. They started burning in late July and lasted until early September 2010. The fires were associated with record-high temperatures, which were attributed to climate change—the summer had been the hottest recorded in Russian history—and drought.
The 2012 Chios Forest Fire was a wildfire that broke out in the southern half of the Greek island of Chios shortly after 2 a.m. on Saturday 18 August 2012.
Alaniya National Park, is a heavily glaciated, mountainous section of the northern slope of the Central Caucasus Mountains. It covers the southern third of the Irafsky District of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. The park was created to have a dual purpose of serving as an ecological refuge - it has very high levels of biodiversity and vulnerable species, such as the near-endangered west Caucasian tur – and also an area of high cultural heritage and potential for recreational tourism. The park contains widespread archaeological ruins from several notable past civilizations, including the Bronze Age Koban people, and the Alan people. It is from the Alans that the name "Alaniya", and indirectly the term "Aryan", is ultimately derived. Because altitudes in the park can span almost 4,000 meters vertical in very short distances, the slopes and valleys display strong 'altitude zoning'. These climatic zones range from alpine glaciers and peaks in the high, southern sections, to steppe grasslands in the northern reaches.
The Goderdzi Petrified Forest Natural Monument is a natural monument in Georgia.
Borjomi Strict Nature Reserve is a protected area in Borjomi Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia.
Nedzvi Managed Reserve is a protected area in central Georgia, in Samtskhe-Javakheti situated in the Lesser Caucasus, southwest to the nation's capital of Tbilisi in Borjomi Municipality. Nedzvi Managed Reserve along with Borjomi Strict Nature Reserve, Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park and Goderdzi Petrified Forest Natural Monument is one of four protected areas under same management authority. The accurate size and borders of the protected areas has yet to be determined. Its ecoregion is that of the Caucasus mixed forests.
2019 United Kingdom wildfires were a series of wildfires that began on 26 February 2019 and ended on 18 May 2019. The series of wildfires was considered unusual due to the fact that they took place early in the year. Areas affected by the wildfires in 2019 included those that had already been burnt by wildfires during the summer of 2018. The fires have created many air pollution problems for the UK. The causes of most of the fires have been attributed to much higher than average temperatures and drought conditions that have prevailed since the spring of 2018. There were 137 wildfires larger than 25 hectares (250,000 m2) recorded in the United Kingdom in 2019. This beats the previous record of 79 from 2018.
During August 2019, a number of forest fires broke out in the Canary Islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote. The fires on the island of Gran Canaria were the most severe, resulting in the loss of large areas of the island's forests and leading to the evacuation of thousands of residents from a number of towns and villages. The intense heat brought by a heat wave and the presence of strong winds, combined with the island's mountainous terrain, made extinguishing activities exceptionally difficult.