It should also cover the restoration of forests damaged by fire or other natural disasters and catastrophic events and relevant prevention measures; investments in forestry technologies and in the processing; the mobilising and marketing of forest products aimed at improving the economic and environmental performance of forest holders; and non- remunerative investments which improve ecosystem and climate resilience and environmental value of forest ecosystems.

A European policy on the protection of forests, on the restoration of burned land, on the forestation of areas, within the framework of European assistance in combating climate change, is absolutely necessary, as is coordinated European action to prevent and fight fires, restore forests and establish new forest areas.

F. whereas, with increasingly hot and dry summer seasons in Southern Europe, forest fires and other wild fires are a recurrent phenomenon, but still vary dramatically from year to year in intensity and in geographical location; whereas the trend of these disastrous events is also influenced by climate change and is linked to the increasing occurrence of heat waves and droughts, as was noted in the abovementioned Commission Communication; whereas investment in combating climate change is therefore an investment in preventing drought and forest fire disasters; whereas, in periods of drought, which are becoming increasingly long, it will always be more difficult to restore forests ...[+++] after a fire, and this brings an attendant risk of desertification,

F. whereas, with increasingly hot and dry summer seasons in Southern Europe, forest fires and other wild fires are a recurrent phenomenon, but still vary dramatically from year to year in intensity and in geographical location; whereas the trend of these disastrous events is also influenced by climate change and is linked to the increasing occurrence of heat waves and droughts, as was noted in the abovementioned Commission Communication; whereas investment in combating climate change is therefore an investment in preventing drought and forest fire disasters; whereas, in periods of drought, which are becoming increasingly long, it will always be more difficult to restore forests ...[+++] after a fire, and this brings an attendant risk of desertification,

F. whereas, with increasingly hot and dry summer seasons in Southern Europe, forest fires and other wild fires are a recurrent phenomenon, but still vary dramatically from year to year in intensity and in geographical location; whereas the trend of these disastrous events is also influenced by climate change and linked to the increasing occurrence of heat waves and droughts, as noted in the Commission Communication on droughts; whereas investment in combating climate change is therefore an investment in preventing drought and forest fire disasters; whereas, in periods of drought, which are becoming increasingly long, it will always be more difficult to restore forests after a f ...[+++]ire, with the attendant risk of desertification,

Concerning reforestation of burnt areas, the new Rural Development Regulation for the period 2007-2013 includes a number of forestry measures that the Member States can implement according to their priorities, including forest fire prevention measures and restoration of forests damaged by fires.