In 2023, the State Enterprise Forests of Ukraine will create a Forest Fire Prevention Center in the Chernihiv region, where firefighters will undergo systematic, comprehensive and operational training.
In order to strengthen the fire safety of forests across the country, they plan to develop navigation systems for fire equipment, a network of observation towers, etc., the head of the State Agency of Forest Resources, Yuriy Bolokhovets, reported on Facebook.
He emphasized that combating forest fires is becoming more and more urgent. After all, due to climate change, the average temperature is increasing, and periods of drought are becoming longer. For example, in 2022, more than 800,000 hectares of forests burned in Europe.
"For Ukrainian forests, the situation is even more threatening. In addition to natural factors, fires are caused by fierce fighting and constant shelling of border areas. And large-scale mining makes it much more difficult to locate and extinguish fires," Bolokhovets said.
He emphasized that thanks to the single enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" there was an opportunity to coordinate the work of structures engaged in fire prevention and elimination.
Bolokhovets noted that in the Zhytomyr and Volyn regions, a pilot project on the navigation system for firefighting equipment was successfully implemented. Each vehicle is equipped with a tablet, which displays the location of the fire, the route, forest roads that can be used, water bodies and approaches to them.
It is noted that the system is especially relevant when extinguishing large-scale fires, in which equipment and personnel from other regions are involved. In 2023, the system will be extended to the Rivne and Kyiv regions, and later to the rest of Ukraine.
Bolokhovets added that the inequality in the salaries of workers in different regions forced qualified specialists to change jobs. Currently, salaries are gradually being brought up to the same level.
He said that before the full-scale invasion, a network of observation towers began to be installed in the forests. Thus, satellite images are updated approximately once an hour, which makes it possible to quickly detect and eliminate fires. The system is planned to be improved and expanded.
Bolokhovets noted that thanks to the reform of the forest industry, forest farms will continue to be provided with modern mobile fire-fighting modules based on pickup trucks. In addition, the reform will help to quickly "transfer" equipment between different forest farms.
"According to statistics, before the war, up to 80% of forest fires occurred outside the boundaries of state forestry. During this time, the problem has become even more urgent," he said.
Bolokhovets emphasized that a typical situation is when palia dry up the vegetation in the fields. The fire spreads to self-seeded forest. Because of this, trees in forest farms also catch fire.
"We will maximally activate the work with local authorities and communities regarding "nobody's" forests. This is not only a question of their preservation, it is a question of reducing risks for the forest fund of Ukraine in general," he added.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, 72 video surveillance cameras of the "Eye of the Forest" video surveillance system were installed in the forests of Zhytomyr Region to quickly detect and eliminate forest fires.
