Comparative analysis of detected fires in the Republic of Serbia and neighbouring countries (2012-2024)

This study aims to provide an overview of fire occurrences in the Republic of Serbia over the past twelve years and to compare these findings with those from neighbouring countries. The analysis is based on data obtained from the online platform Global Forest Watch, sourced from Copernicus Sentinel-2 and processed by the European Space Agency (ESA). In comparison with the selected neighbouring countries, Serbia demonstrates moderate to slightly above-average values in terms of the annual number of fires, the total number of fires, and fire density per square kilometre. A significant proportion of the fires detected by satellite imagery are associated with agricultural areas. The period with the highest number of fire events is the fourth quarter of the year, which numerous sources attribute to the burning of agricultural residues following the harvest. Beyond providing numerical indicators of the fire situation in Serbia, this study also serves as a foundation for more detailed analyses that may inform strategies for the prevention and mitigation of fire spread into forests and forest land.