More than 10 percent of a UNESCO-listed biosphere reserve has been destroyed by fires that tore through northeastern Algeria, killing at least 38 people, an expert told AFP on Saturday.

The figure cited by Rafik Baba Ahmed, former director of the El Kala Biosphere Reserve, means that the burned area of the park alone is almost double what the civil defence service said has been destroyed throughout Africa's largest country since June.

Algeria's northeast was particularly hard-hit since Wednesday by blazes exacerbated by climate change, but the fire service on Saturday said most of the fires there had been put out.

"The Wednesday fires damaged around 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres)" of the park, Baba Ahmed said.

According to the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO, El Kala Biosphere Reserve covers more than 76,000 hectares.

It is the last refuge of the Barbary Red Deer and "home to a very remarkable bird life, more than 60,000 migratory birds every winter", UNESCO's website says.

"It is (a) mosaic of marine, dune, lake and forest ecosystems, with its marine strip rich in corals, Posidonia meadows and fish," UNESCO says.

According to Baba Ahmed, forest covers 54,000 hectares of the park and most of the trees are cork oak.

"It is considered one of the main biodiversity reserves in the Mediterranean basin," he said, extolling its "exceptional biological richness".

But Baba Ahmed said he was "very pessimistic" about the future of the area regularly damaged by forest fires.

"Over time the fires weaken the forest, making it vulnerable to other attacks: harmful insects but especially to human activities."

As a consequence, the area loses its flora and fauna, the forestry expert added.

Civil Defence Colonel Boualem Boughlef said on television Friday night that since June 1, 1,242 fires had destroyed 5,345 hectares of woodlands in Algeria.

Baba Ahmed said that figure is not realistic.

While Algeria's northeastern fires have been largely extinguished, firefighters fought two blazes on the other side of the country in Tlemcen, in the far west, the civil defence said Saturday on its Facebook page.

The fires led Algerians both at home and in the diaspora to collect clothing, medicines and food to help those affected.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has also offered support, and French President Emmanuel Macron called his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to express his condolences "for the victims of the fires", state news agency APS reported on Saturday.

Spain and Portugal too fought massive wildfires over the past week, including in another UNESCO-listed park where more than 25,000 hectares were estimated to have been scorched.

Evacuation orders lifted as Spain wildfire stabilised
Madrid (AFP) Aug 21, 2022 –

Firefighters managed to stabilise Sunday a wildfire that has ravaged vast swathes of land in eastern Spain, allowing officials to lift all remaining evacuation orders.

The blaze, which started on Monday near Bejis in the eastern Valencia region, has destroyed over 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land and spurred the evacuation of around 2,200 people.

Reconnaissance flights on Sunday showed it "no longer had any active fronts" and can be considered "stabilised", regional interior minister Gabriela Bravo told reporters.

Firefighters said reduced winds, cooler overnight temperatures and higher humidity levels had allowed them to contain the blaze.

But Bravo cautioned that temperatures were still forecast to be high on Monday, with strong winds that could rekindle the blaze.

Earlier on Sunday Valencia regional president Ximo Puig said all remaining evacuees could return to their homes.

"Now is the time to return to normality, with caution," he said.

Local officials had on Saturday already lifted evacuation orders in two villages, Bejis and Toras, because the threat from the flames had diminished.

About 20 aircraft were deployed to battle the blaze on Sunday, compared to 42 the day before.

Another major wildfire which broke out last Saturday some 200 kilometres (125 miles) further south in the Vall de Ebo was brought under control on Sunday, Puig said.

It has ravaged some 12,000 hectares of woods, bushes and farmland.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit fire damage on Monday with Puig, the premier's office said in a statement.

The blazes are among the almost 400 to have broken out in Spain so far this year amid a series of punishing heatwaves and long dry spells that have devastated more than 283,000 hectares of land, more than three times the total area destroyed in 2021.

Areas of neighbouring Portugal have likewise suffered devastation.