Legambiente: nearly 500 fires in six months – an area equivalent to more than 13,000 football pitches

In Italia, the climate crisis and record temperatures are extending the critical fire season, with major blazes already occurring in spring and winter: from January to 15 June 2026, there were almost 500 fires and 9,545 hectares went up in smoke. The fires covered an area equivalent to 13,368 football pitches in the months leading up to the start of the forest fire prevention season. This represents a 36.3 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2025. This is according to the latest report from Legambiente, which also highlights how the geography of the affected regions is changing, with areas that were not considered high-risk until a few years ago now included: these include Piedmont and Liguria, and in central Italy, Tuscany, where 623 hectares were burnt in May in the province of Lucca.

In the south, Sicily and Calabria, on the other hand, remain, as is traditional, the regions most severely affected. Of particular concern is the persistence and systematic concentration of fires in the same locations, as measured for the first time by Legambiente using the municipal recurrence index. Ten municipalities are under scrutiny, all in Sicily and Calabria. In detail, among the northern regions, Piedmont stands out with 355 hectares burnt, compared with 23 in the first few months of 2025, and Liguria with 386 hectares and 10 fires, compared with 97 hectares last year. In central Italy, Tuscany alone saw 623 hectares burnt in the province of Lucca in May; in Lazio, the flames consumed 131 hectares across 11 fires; in Abruzzo (21 hectares and 1 fire), Umbria (24 hectares and 2 fires). In the south, Sicily (4,769 hectares burnt and 175 fires) and Calabria (1,543 hectares and 156 fires) remain the hardest-hit regions ahead of the AIB season, followed by Campania (715 hectares and 42 fires), Puglia (367 hectares and 30 fires), Sardinia (270 hectares burnt and 8 fires), and Basilicata (25 hectares and 5 fires).

Sicily, moreover, holds the grim record for the number of hectares lost to fire – as many as 1,800 – in Natura 2000 sites, followed by Tuscany, Campania and Calabria, all three of which have seen 800 hectares burnt in areas of natural value. In its report, Legambiente outlines 14 possible measures, ranging from the sustainable management of rural areas to the involvement of citizens and local communities; from the ecological and functional restoration of areas affected by fire to the integration of urban planning, the strengthening of state oversight and the tightening of penalties.