Filenews 8 August 2022
The Department of Forests, in the context of the implementation of Investment 9, and specifically the investment action C2.1I9: Protection of forests from fires, of the Resilience and Recovery Plan (RDP), has entered into an agreement with the Center of Excellence "CARE-C" (through the Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory) of the Cyprus Institute, for the provision of drone services for the period 2022-2025.
The utilization of unmanned aircraft is expected to contribute catalytically to the further strengthening of the existing forest fire management system implemented by the Department of Forests. The utilization of unmanned aircraft will be done on the basis of scheduled and / or emergency flights in all forest areas, in order to detect forest fires early, but also any malicious actions.
Furthermore, the contract provides for the use of unmanned aircraft at an operational level, both as decision-making tools in forest fire suppression operations, since they provide the possibility of real-time image transmission, even during the evening hours, as well as for the mapping of burnt areas in a short period of time after the fire is extinguished.
*The photographic material was provided by the USRL laboratory of the Center of Excellence "CARE-C", of the Cyprus Institute.
