Filenews 22 August 2021 - by Angelos Nikolaou
The devastating fires as a result of climate change lead the Government to a series of measures in order to nip as much as possible in the bud and to revise upwards the penalties for those who maliciously destroy the environment.
To this end, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Costas Kadis, prepared a proposal for an amendment of the Penal Code to impose up to life imprisonment for forest fires that are maliciously set. Kostas Kadis, in an interview with "F", refers to the challenges that the Government has to deal with the worsening of forest fires, to adapt Cyprus to the new data, and responds to the criticisms about the understaffing of the Department of Forests. The minister even responds to criticisms that after a catastrophic fire the suggestions and decisions are made but then they are forgotten.
-The problem of forest fires is getting worse year by year, both in Cyprus, in the Mediterranean and throughout the world. Have we prepared properly to meet this great challenge?
-The preparation for the confrontation of forest fires is a dynamic process, which must be constantly adapted to the new data. Both in the case of Cyprus and the wider region of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, the increase in the frequency and spread of fires in recent decades is due to the new data brought by two main factors: rural depopulation and climate change.
-How do these factors affect fires?
-With the abandonment of the countryside, in the areas that cease to be used for agricultural purposes, dense forest vegetation gradually develops. Consequently, these areas cease to be a natural obstacle to the spread of the fire. On the contrary, they are one of the best environments for the manifestation and expansion of fire, since here accumulates a large volume of fuel.
On the other hand, the phenomenon of climate change across the globe is now indisputable and the severity of the problem varies according to the geographical area. Our region, the region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, has been described as one of the "hot spots" of the entire planet. Biodiversity and especially forest ecosystems are receiving serious negative impacts from climate change, since in recent years the conditions to which they are adapted have changed at an unusually rapid pace. As a result of the increased frequency and intensity of droughts and heat waves, the frequency and intensity of large destructive forest fires increase, with the result that forest ecosystems cannot recover with the mechanisms that were adapted and degraded.
-How is Cyprus adapting to these new circumstances?
-In order to deal with the complex problem of forest fires, we have formulated plans with the leadership of the Department of Forests and we are implementing a specific strategic plan, which focuses on three pillars: prevention, preparedness and suppression. The fire-fighting system cannot focus on one of the three pillars alone. At a global level, priority is given to repression. Huge investments are being made in flying resources. However, flying means, however modern or large, cannot by themselves extinguish a fire. We have seen this in Greece, in Italy, and even in the United States and in Australia, where recent fires have been raging for weeks without being able to suppress them.
-At the level of prevention, one would say that we are lagging behind in the application of deterrent penalties for those who unwittingly or deliberately cause fires.
-I will not disagree. However, I believe that the biggest problem is the ineffective implementation of the legislation and not the lack of legislation. We have examples of cases that were reported in 2018 and still haven't even reached the court. I must note that since 2018 there has been stricter implementation of forest law - an increase in both the number of complaints and the financial penalty for offences that can be reconciled out of court - and for the first time the maximum amount provided for by law has been imposed. My personal suggestion was to amend the Penal Code to impose up to life imprisonment for forest fires that are maliciously set. This issue will be addressed by a meeting of the co-competent ministers with the Attorney General, which will take place shortly, since he himself identified weaknesses in the whole system. What is needed is the immediate imposition of deterrent penalties for any action that creates a risk of fire, whether or not it is eventually caused by fire.
-What else can be done at the level of prevention?
-The factors that influence the manifestation and spread of a forest fire are meteorological data, topographical configuration and fuel. The only factor on which human intervention can be preventively made is the fuel, i.e. dead or live biomass (vegetation). Therefore, our top priority is the management of vegetation. The Department of Forests has proceeded to special planning, the focus of which is to prevent large catastrophic fires as well as to protect communities through the creation of a protection ring around the communities to reduce the risk of fires spreading within residential areas. We are also studying ways of managing abandoned agricultural land, even by using the Rural Development Programme.
-The Government has been accused of remembering these issues every time a major fire occurs. Many accuse you of not implementing what was planned after the fires in Solia in 2016.
-I will respond to your comment by quoting specific data. The first fact is that, at the level of policy, the issue of the effective response to fires is high on the priorities of the President of the Republic himself, who, every year, after the preparatory meetings held at the level of ministries, departments and services, convenes, well before the beginning of the fire season, a meeting to discuss and monitor their level of preparedness and organization to deal with fires. In fact, in one of these meetings, on the instructions of the President himself, two very important decisions were taken: Firstly, the loaded patrols of the forest firefighting aircraft and, secondly, the preparation of a vegetation management plan by the Department of Forests. The second fact is that the vast majority of the recommendations and measures included in the Report of the Independent Commission appointed by the Council of Ministers after the fire in Solia in 2016 have either been implemented or are at an advanced stage of implementation. The most important thing, however, is that in the last three years, apart from the measures that have been applied over time, many additional actions have been implemented, which are not limited to the recommendations of the Independent Committee.
-What do you consider to be more important than the actions proposed by the Independent Commission?
-For the reasons I explained above, I consider it important that vegetation management plans have been prepared and are being implemented to prevent major catastrophic fires as well as to protect communities. A Forest Fire Suppression Operations Administration Plan is also implemented for the first time, while a General Operations Center was created and operates, as well as Business Support Centres in the Regions. In addition, the "Hephaestus Plan" for crisis management was prepared and the "Icarus Plan" was updated for the coordination of flying means in case of forest fire. Also, the operation of the telephone line of communication by the public with the Department of Forests 1407 for the reporting of fires was improved. I think that the measures at the level of alert are particularly important.
For the first time, a Standby Plan is implemented for the period of moderate and low risk of fires, in the afternoons and during weekends and holidays. The alert system has been improved by redefining the role of forest officials. The head of the forest firefighters both during standby and firefighting is a forest officer. Forest firefighters are no longer sent to the fire on their own. A standby officer is also appointed under the on-call system during the night, and the alert hours of the officials have been extended to coincide with the hours of the forest firefighters. I also consider the written description of the duties of officials and forest firefighters to be a very important action. As a result of the above improvements, the annual expenditure on alert increased, from €200,000 in 2016, to €750,000.
