This is the seventh Forest Fires in Europe report published by the European Commission. The report is normally published in summer of the following year in order to allow the different countries to compile official statistics of the fire season regarding the total number of forest fires and burned area. The fire season of 2006 can be defined as a relatively mild season, and if the total number of fires was still relatively high, the total burned area was definitely well below the average. In general there were not many extreme fire events and only the large fires that devastated Galicia (Spain) in the first two weeks of August, were object of great concern. The Forest Fires in Europe 2006 report describes the latest developments in terms of support to forest fires fire prevention activities in the European Union, presents historical statistics in terms of number of fires and burned area, and describes the fire season in each of the contributing countries as well as the results from the European Forest Fire Information System: EFFIS Danger Forecast, that provides daily the 1, 2, and 3 day fire danger forecasts, EFFIS Rapid Damage Assessment, that performs the mapping and evaluation of land cover damages caused by fires of at least 50 ha, and includes also a summary of the impact of forest fires in Natura2000 areas in Galicia, Spain, in 2006.JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard
