Natura 2000 areas burn less than rest of Portugal, study finds

A WWF Portugal analysis published on Wednesday found that Special Areas of Conservation (ZEC) within the Natura 2000 network burned proportionally less than the rest of mainland Portugal between 2021 and 2025: 2.9% of ZEC land burned, compared with 6.1% outside these zones. Protected areas are not immune to fires, however, accounting for roughly a quarter of the total burned area. The report also warns that shrubland, not just forest, is heavily affected and often overlooked in land management, and that intentional fires remain a dominant cause both inside and outside protected zones.