Proveneya & Nahiara · Updated Friday, August 14, 2026

Wildfires 2026 — daily update. Pollinators are victims too — and they deserve to be counted. They are the great unknown of these fires, absent from the reporting.

View the daily update

Europe

  • Spain - 207,000-217,609 ha burned in 2026 (EFFIS); six times the same period in 2025. A new Andalusia front has affected over 25,000 ha of perimeter, with 650 evacuated and 300 firefighters deployed.
  • Croatia - A fire near Omis, one of the country's worst, burned 900-1,000 ha; 1 person died, 36-40 were injured and over 2,000 people were evacuated.
  • Germany - A 300 ha Hürtgenwald fire near Belgium is still spreading; 1,800 people were evacuated and unexploded WWII ordnance complicates the response.
  • Greece - Attica is at the maximum level-5 alert. The Boeotia fire burned 10,000 ha and prompted over 1,000 evacuations; another front in Rethymno, Crete remains critical.
  • France - A new Landes fire burned 1,100 ha, with 500 evacuated and 500 firefighters deployed. National burned area is 98,000-116,000 ha, a record in 20 years of satellite measurement.
  • United Kingdom and Albania - A Stourbridge fire damaged homes; Albania is also affected by the current fire wave.
  • Portugal - The Viseu fire burned about 13,000 ha; at peak, 39 fires were active nationwide.
  • Italy - Estimates range from 40,000 to more than 100,000 ha; Sicily and Calabria are the worst-hit areas.
  • European Union - 457,459 ha burned through July 29 (EFFIS), 32% above the historical average. More than 300,000 people were evacuated or confined in France and Spain during July.

Africa

  • Algeria - At the July 18 peak, 154 fires were declared in 24 hours; 6 people died and about 150 homes were affected in Annaba.

Asia

  • Turkey - About 95,000 ha burned, seven times the 2008-2020 historical average for this time of year.
  • Russia (Siberia) - About 600,000 ha burned in 2026; 84,356 ha were active at peak in Krasnoyarsk, Yamalo-Nenets and Irkutsk.

North America

  • Canada - 3,848 fires and 2.92 million ha burned since January; Thunder Bay 36 in Ontario has burned 314,000 ha and remains uncontained.
  • United States - Fire alert raised to maximum level.

South America

  • Ecuador - Seven fires were active and four controlled on August 11. The Cotacachi-Cayapas reserve fire has burned at least 300 ha of paramo; over 4,000 ha burned nationally in early August.
  • Brazil - 1.76 million ha burned in 2026, with 4,682 fire events; risk is expected to increase from August to October.

Oceania

  • Australia - The southern-summer season has passed; January burned more than 400,000 ha in Victoria. There is no significant activity now.

Global context

Sources: MITECO, EFFIS/Copernicus, French Interior Ministry, Portuguese and Italian Civil Protection, Algerian Civil Protection, Turkish Meteorological Service, Russian Federal Forest Agency, CIFFC, GWIS/Brazil Ministry of Environment, Ecuador SNGR/ECU 911, AFAC/NEMA, Reuters, France 24, CNN, Greenpeace Spain, NOAA, Copernicus Marine Service.

Ant
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🐝Bees & AntsHigh local efficiency

Ant

Formicidae sp.

Region

Global

Araihan Score

18/25

3D Model

✅ Available

Type

Natural

Interactive 3D Model

🖱️ Drag to rotate · Scroll to zoom · The model auto-rotates

Araihan Measure18/25

Ecological health index (0–25)

About Ant

Ants are often overlooked as pollinators, but certain species play a surprisingly important role in plant reproduction, especially in arid and semi-arid environments. While ants lack the fuzzy bodies of bees that make them efficient pollen carriers, they frequently visit flowers for nectar and in doing so can transfer pollen between blooms. Some plants have even evolved to specifically attract ant pollinators with low-growing flowers and accessible nectar rewards. Ant pollination (myrmecophily) is particularly significant for ground-level and prostrate plants where flying pollinators may be less frequent visitors.

Habitat

Present in almost all terrestrial ecosystems, especially soils, path edges and gardens.

Conservation

Ant pollinator guilds receive an estimated Araihan Measure of 18/25: high local efficiency and strong ecological interdependence.

Did You Know?

1

Some desert plants rely almost exclusively on ants for pollination

2

Ants secrete antimicrobial substances that can actually reduce pollen viability in some cases

3

There are over 22,000 known species of ants worldwide

4

Ant colonies can contain millions of individuals all working together

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