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A Report on
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A Report on
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A Report on Forest Fires in Cyprus
Boustras GRTD Talos Ltd, |
Bratskas R,
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Efstathiades AEuropean University Cyprus, |
Katsaros ESystems Optimization Laboratory, |
In the last few years a number of catastrophes have taken place in Cyprus; accumulating loses of millions of pounds, destroying valuable ancient pine tree forests and disrupting rural life for days and in a few cases weeks and months. A survey, aiming to gather information and opinions about the current fire safety situation in wildland fires was carried out.
The aim of this study is to provide the reader with an adequate idea about the existing situation in Cyprus as far as safety is concerned in wildland areas.
A Report on Forest Fires in Cyprus
Cyprus is an island in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea and covers an area of about 9500 sq. km. The population of the island is about 750.000.
Cyprus, in 2004 became a full member of the European Union. Since 1974, because of the Turkish invasion, the Government of the Republic of Cyprus cannot exercise its rights in certain parts of the country as they remain occupied.
Over the years, for many reasons that are beyond the scope of this paper, forest fires have become a constant threat every summer. Taking in account the dry, hot and long summers of Cyprus this has become a real problem especially in the last few years.
A number of Government agencies are involved in the extinguishment of fires, namely the Fire Service, the Forest Service and the Civil Defense Force. In case a fire breaks out in the areas falling under the British Sovereign Bases jurisdiction, the above are assisted by the relevant British authorities and in those cases that a fire incident occurs in the “green line” the UN authorities are getting involved. Each agency is involved according to the fire classification criteria as follows:
The Fire Service is responsible for saving lives, for the prevention and extinction of fires, and rendering humanitarian services to the public. The Cyprus Fire Service is consisted of 652 fulltime and 120 retain fire fighters. In 2001 a new Special Unit (called EMAK) was established by the Fire Service and its main mission is to respond to unexpected disastrous phenomena that increase human adversity. The Firefighters are trained continually either at the Fire Stations or at the Fire Service Training School.
According to its mission statement, the Cyprus Forest Service, is responsible for the formulation and implementation of the forest policy, the formulation and enforcement of the forest legislation, the Management of state forests, the running of the Cyprus Forestry College and the reforestation of all degraded forest lands.
The main mission of the Civil Defense Force is the performance of various humanitarian tasks intended to protect the civilian population and help it recover from the immediate effects of hostilities or disaster as well as to provide the conditions necessary for its survival. The Civil Defense Force is organized by the establishment of civil defense units in almost all the urban areas and villages. Most of the units are manned by conscripts and volunteers. Civil Defense members receive a basic training and are later trained and positioned in different divisions of the Civil Defense. These are the First Aid, the Telecommunications Section, the Welfare Section and the Fire Fighting, Rescue and the Neighborhood Watch Sections. The Minister of Interior, on behalf of the Council of Ministers, is responsible for the implementation of the Civil Defense Law and the relevant Regulations and has the overall supervision and control of the Civil Defense System.
In this paper, data collected from both the Fire and Forest Service is presented and analysed. Unfortunately, data can only be collected from the unoccupied areas. Due to the military invasion of 1974 by Turkey, parts of the Republic of Cyprus are occupied and the Government cannot exercise its rights in that area, making the collection of statistics, therefore impossible. National, International, Government agencies increasingly over the years are collecting data, that is later used for creating safe practices and policy making.
The Fire Service force around the island of Cyprus is spread as follows
among the 5 prefectures – Figure 1.
Figure 1 – The Fire Fighting Force in Cyprus
This paper attempts to illustrate the current situation in terms of safety means, training, education, policies and measures put in place in Cyprus.
The data presented on this paper was collected from the Cyprus Department of Forests. The main mission of the Department of Forests is to promote sustainable forest management and protection of the state forests in Cyprus which cover an area of 163,520 hectares representing 17.74% of the total area of the island. Out of these 123,910 hectares (13.44%) are found in the government controlled areas and 39610 hectares (4.30%) are situated in the areas occupied by Turkey. In addition, the Department of Forests is responsible for implementing the government Forests Policy and the Forest Law.
In 2006, 102 forest fires broke out in state forests and burned an area of 260 ha. The largest of them occurred at Karatzias/ Fteroudi locality (Agia Marina village at Pafos) and burnt an area of 95.4 ha. The Department of Forests participated in the fighting of 189 fires occurred in private adjacent to state forests, which burned an area of about 881 hectares.
The most recent forest catastrophe occurred in June 2007. After a huge firefighting operation, one of the worst blazes in decades was contained that left much of the scenic central Troodos mountains covered in ashes. Hundreds of firefighters, troops and civil defense volunteers battled for hours against the blaze which destroyed holiday homes and threatened to engulf village communities and wildlife. Tables 1– 4 present the forest safety situation in Cyprus between 2000 – 2006.
Table 1– Number of forest fires in Cyprus (2000 – 2006)
| Year | Number of fires |
|---|---|
2000 |
57 |
2001 |
58 |
2002 |
82 |
2003 |
72 |
2004 |
82 |
2005 |
72 |
2006 |
102 |
Total |
525 |
Table 2, shows data for the period 2000-2006. An important increase is evident in the period 2005-2006 (from 72 to 102 fires). The intense climatic changes have strengthened the fire phenomena in a global level, and they create further need for the adoption of prevention measures, and the enrichment of campaigns with new methods, approaches and sensitization campaigns of the society.
Table 2– Total area burnt in forest fires in Cyprus 2000 - 2006
| Year | Total area burnt (ha) |
|---|---|
2000 |
747 |
2001 |
1099 |
2002 |
69 |
2003 |
311 |
2004 |
405 |
2005 |
439 |
2006 |
260 |
Total |
3330 |
Table 2, shows that the number of fires is not directly proportional to the total area burnt. Despite the increase in the number of fires less area is burnt, this is due to the introduction of an anti-fire campaign as well as of the intensification of the existing measures.
Table 3 – number of forest fires per month in Cyprus in 2000 – 2006
| Month | Number of fires | Total area burnt (ha) |
Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| June | 117 |
1283 |
22 |
| July | 91 |
1037 |
17 |
| May | 81 |
628 |
16 |
| August | 58 |
138 |
11 |
| October | 51 |
26 |
10 |
| September | 44 |
61 |
8 |
| November | 26 |
15 |
5 |
| March | 26 |
126 |
5 |
| April | 16 |
11 |
3 |
| December | 6 |
1 |
1 |
| February | 5 |
1 |
1 |
| January | 4 |
3 |
1 |
Table 3, shows the distribution of forest fires per month. The most hazardous months are traditionally the summer months, where high temperatures, increase of sightseers in the mountainous resorts, and gale force winds, increase the likelihood of a possible fire.
Table 4– Sources of ignition 2000 - 2006
Number of fires |
Total area |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cause | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | Total | % | |
| Agricultural activities | 11 |
9 |
17 |
12 |
24 |
13 |
25 |
111 |
21 |
384 |
| Tourism activities | 5 |
8 |
11 |
13 |
14 |
10 |
26 |
87 |
17 |
272 |
| Unknown | 17 |
13 |
11 |
11 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
81 |
15 |
521 |
| Malicious | 4 |
6 |
14 |
8 |
5 |
14 |
12 |
63 |
12 |
226 |
| Other | 6 |
12 |
4 |
8 |
9 |
12 |
8 |
59 |
11 |
45 |
| Natural causes | 6 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
6 |
4 |
9 |
43 |
8 |
9 |
| Burning of refuse | 3 |
- |
4 |
3 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
25 |
5 |
28 |
| Military activities | 2 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
22 |
4 |
217 |
| Residential | 1 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
20 |
4 |
633 |
| Hunting | 1 |
- |
5 |
- |
2 |
1 |
- |
9 |
2 |
7 |
| From the occupied areas | 1 |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
- |
3 |
1 |
988 |
| Forest activities | - |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Table 4, shows that agricultural activities constitute the main reason for the occurrence of a forest fire. It is evident that from 2000 up to 2006 at least they have been doubled, while important reasons are also malicious damage and tourism activities. This table shows that the human factor constitutes the main reason of fires, especially since natural reasons hardly reach 8%. While the human factor continues to be the main reason, this leads us to the conclusion that with proper planning and increased vigilance, the number of fires and that of the area burnt can further decrease.
Fire constitutes the most serious danger for the forests of Cyprus. A wide range of factors such as the long, hot and dry summers, the frequent strong winds, the configuration of the ground and the inflammability of the vegetation, favor the easy outbreak and quick spread of fires. Furthermore, the abandonment of rural areas due to urbanism and the increasing tourism and mass exit of population towards the forest areas, raises fire hazard to the highest level.
It has become apparent that there is an intense need for a targeted sensitization campaign as well as strengthening of the fire fighting forces in all areas. In the last few years this becomes more and more evident, through the increased budget set aside by the State as well as the proper planning of measures, policies and practises.
Only in 2006 the Cypriot Department of Forests undertook the following measures:
Forests constitute one of the most important public properties and State agencies are responsible for their safeguarding. Forest Fire Protection Policies have existed in the past through Government legislation. Due to Cyprus’s accession to the EU, in 2004, the Government responded to the EU legislation by introducing the 2004-2006 Rural Development Program which has very recently been enriched by the adoption of the 2007-2013 Rural Development Program. Typical preventive measures are the following:
Law enforcement
The Cyprus Forest Law prohibits the lighting of any fire or the throwing of
burning cigarette ends and matches in the forest or within a radius of 1 km
from the boundaries of the forests. Offenders are liable to imprisonment or
to a fine or to both such sentences.
Forest fire information campaigns (publicity )
The Department of Forests launches an intense information campaign each year
aiming at the sensitization of citizens about the forest fire danger. This campaign
targets mainly the rural population, students, soldiers and organized groups.
Picnic Sites
Picnic sites can be found in most forest areas. These sites are established
and maintained for two main reasons: Primarily, for the fulfillment of the recreational
requirements of the public and secondly for fire protection purposes.
Patrolling
During the fire season, regular patrols are organized in various forest regions
and especially along the forest delimitation line where most of the forest fires
start. The main aims of these patrols are: the prompt detection and rapid intervention
in case of a forest fire, the information of local people and the enforcement
of the Forest Law.
This paper attempts to present the current situation as far as fire safety in Cyprus is concerned. Data was collected for forest catastrophes, information on the degree of importance the various state agencies pays to fire safety policies, training, and measures. Although the State spends a lot of money on preventive measures regarding safety in the Cypriot forests and although the public participates in the effort through various NGO’s and voluntary teams, the climate change and the severity of the weather, makes every summer unpredictable in terms of fire catastrophes.
At a glance the situation is encouraging as it seems that the Government, the people and the state agencies acknowledged the importance of fire safety in the forests. Gradually, unsafe practices such as smoking, picnic in undesignated and unprotected areas are becoming more and rarer.
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The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation for financing this study under the contract KINHT/0505-1. The authors wish also to thank the Statistics Department of the Cyprus Fire Service, the Cyprus Department of Forests and the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Finance.
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