Europe

The Government to Assist Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Measures on Wildfires; Experts to be Dispatched

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, left, shakes hands with Elmedin Konakovic, foreign affairs minister for Bosnia-Herzegovina, in Sarajevo on Thursday evening.

By Ayaka Kudo / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

18:15 JST, July 19, 2024

SARAJEVO — The government is planning to help Bosnia-Herzegovina fight wildfires. Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa is expected to announce support measures during her current visit to the country.

The government will dispatch experts to the country, where forests cover about 40% of the land, through official development assistance. Since wildfires are difficult to detect, Japan will help the country identify places where wildfires are likely to occur ahead of time such as with satellite data.

According to Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Bosnia saw an average of 34,000 hectares of wildfires per year over the 15 years through 2021. Longer dry summers caused by climate change could lead to more wildfires.

Japan has provided similar aid to countries such as North Macedonia, next to Bosnia. Tokyo is considering creating a system for detecting wildfires in their early stages and sharing that information with the western Balkans region.