With a heart consumed by anguish and eyes brimming with tears, Haj Mohammed Al-Nuhaili stands witness to his land, where he spent his life, now reduced to accumulated ash under relentless flames. His desperate attempts with his sons to extinguish the escalating fire, which devoured his entire crop, proved futile.
In a scene reflecting the scale of the disaster, personnel from the Safety and Civil Defense Authority, the Agricultural Police, and volunteers from the Red Crescent are making modest efforts to confront the inferno that consumes everything in its path, leaving behind choking clouds of ash. “Al-Manassa” has continuously monitored the aftermath of these recurrent fires in the Green Mountain region for a full week, investigating their origins and collecting testimonies from residents, officials, and experts, in an attempt to answer the question: Who is igniting the fires in Libya’s green lung, and what are the motives behind it?
The Government remains silent…. while the green turns to ash
The devastating fires have not only ravaged nature but also exposed the state’s inability to respond rapidly. The losses were not merely environmental; they also affected the local economy, which was heavily reliant on the trade of aromatic and medicinal plants, with over a million dinars generated annually, according to 2006 estimates.
Agricultural economics researcher, Sami Al-Rayani, clarified that the fires consumed highly flammable plants such as “juniper, mastic, wild olive, carob, and cypress,” species containing volatile oils that accelerate fire spread, in addition to being crucial natural habitats for wildlife. Al-Rayani indicated that the human factor remains the most prominent cause of these fires, whether through deliberate arson for agricultural expansion or chaotic urban sprawl, warning of the long-term impact on ecosystem stability.
With over 63% of the vegetation cover deteriorating and 14,000 hectares disappearing within a decade, calls are mounting to activate Forestry Law No. (5) of 1982 and establish a specialised administration for its protection.
Climate Is Innocent, Perpetrator Is Known
Although climatic factors such as high temperatures, drought, and low humidity may contribute to igniting fires, environmental researcher Khalifa Boufaraj asserts that the “human hand” remains the primary culprit. He points to deliberate burning for agricultural or urban expansion, or remnants of campers’ fires, according to local testimonies.
Boufaraj affirmed that the fires have destroyed entire habitats that animals relied on for food and reproduction, leading to mass displacement of wildlife and the death of some, threatening severe imbalances in the ecological equilibrium. Libyan law explicitly states that no one is permitted to light a fire within 200 metres of a forest or public pasture without explicit written consent from an agricultural inspection centre. However, this legal provision has not been strictly enforced, despite the gravity of the current environmental situation.
Agricultural Police investigations: the fire started from a dump site
The head of the agricultural police in the Green Mountain, LTC. Adel Abreidan confirmed that investigations commenced immediately, revealing that the fire originated from a dump site near the main road.
Abreidan suggested that the ignition of the waste was either deliberate or due to negligence.
He noted that strong southern winds significantly contributed to the fire’s expansion, pointing out that the Agricultural Police force lacks the necessary capabilities to confront
such disasters. The force urgently requires four-wheel-drive vehicles, observation towers, and specialised firefighting aircraft.
Parliament and Government in the dock
In an angry response, five Libyan environmental organisations issued a joint statement holding the House of Representatives and executive authorities responsible for the catastrophe, demanding accountability for those who fell short.
Abrik Qiqiyat, Director of the “Shatla Environmental Organisation,” one of these bodies, confirmed ongoing coordination between civil society institutions and the House of Representatives to establish a specialised forest management body and launch a national awareness project targeting youth.
Qiqiyat fiercely attacked the “fragility of the capabilities of the Safety and Civil Defence Authority and the Agricultural Police,” stating: “Vehicles are not equipped for the mountain’s terrain, teams are untrained, and they lack the necessary tools, which is unforgivable.” He also called for the establishment of natural reserves to propagate endemic species and for unifying state and civil society efforts to protect forests.
Agriculture Committee demands an airport for Green Mountain firefighting
The head of the agriculture monitoring committee in the House of Representatives, Saeed Khaled Esbaga, deemed the recurrent fires in the Green Mountain an “unforgivable environmental catastrophe.” He noted that Libya currently lacks even a single firefighting aircraft, a situation he described as “unacceptable” given the accelerating pace of climate change.
The Agriculture Committee affirmed the necessity of establishing a specialised airport within the Green Mountain cities, to be exclusively dedicated to firefighting missions and the protection of forests and vegetation cover in the region.
Demand for aerial firefighting: an urgent imperative
The Head of the Social Council in Bayda city, Abu Bakr Al-Jali, stressed that “ground firefighting” has proven ineffective in reaching rugged areas accessible only by air. He considered that providing a permanent firefighting aircraft at Al-Abraq Airport is no longer an option but has become an “urgent strategic necessity.” Al-Jali clarified that the Council has repeatedly contacted the relevant authorities without receiving any official response to date.
In the same context, the National Safety Department at Al-Abraq Airport revealed the imminent signing of an agreement to acquire Libya’s first firefighting aircraft, funded by the Reconstruction Fund, a long-awaited step to bolster forest fire response capabilities in the Green Mountain.
Night fires and suspected Arson: questions about official handling
The Director of the Geographic Information Systems Department at the Ministry of Environment in the Libyan Government, Fares Fathi, expressed concern over fires breaking out during night hours, as occurred in Marj, Shahhat, and Wadi Al-Kouf areas. He considered this pattern to reinforce the hypothesis of deliberate human causation.
Fathi noted that dry southern winds (Al-Qibli), exceeding 40 km/h, increased the difficulty of controlling the Wadi Al-Kouf fire. He added that the recurrence of fires in the same locations raises suspicions and necessitates an urgent review of prevention plans and tightening surveillance measures to protect vegetation cover from extinction.
Despite the circulation of documented visual footage showing a resident accusing a fellow citizen of deliberately igniting fires on his farm, the Ministry of Interior has yet to issue any official clarifications regarding whether reports were received or an investigation opened. This silence raises serious questions about the official handling of these recurrent disasters.
Despite the absence of any official statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources to date, Al-Manassa observed that the global prices for the demanded firefighting aircraft range between only $150,000 and $500,000 – an amount that does not seem impossible for a country facing recurrent environmental disasters every year.
The fires extinguish, but the questions remain ablaze: Who will compensate the affected farmers and residents whose properties border the forests? Who will bear responsibility for protecting the vegetation cover from erosion and disappearance? And will the legislator act to tighten penalties on those proven to be involved in these transgressions, whether intentionally or due to negligence?