Filenews 13 September 2022
The Department of Forests began in August the utilization of drones as a valuable tool to strengthen the existing forest fire management system, while in the coming years it is planned to intensify their use.
The Director of the Department of Forests Charalambos Alexandrou stated that the Department, 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" of the Cyprus Institute, for the provision of drone services.
As he said, the use of drones is a valuable tool in the context of utilizing modern technologies to strengthen the existing forest fire management system implemented by the Department of Forests.
Noting that "CARE-C" is based in Cyprus and has specialized research and development infrastructures for unmanned aerial systems and technologies, without dependence on third parties, he said that this fact, together with the human and trained staff of "CARE-C", ensures the provision of services that meet the needs of the Department and help achieve the goal of effective surveillance of state forests with the special relief and heterogeneity of the landscape there.
An important parameter, he added, is the fact that through this cooperation, the Department of Forests ensures the continuous technological support and upgrade of the systems to address the risk of forest fires.
The Director of the Department of Forests said that 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.
He also pointed out that the contract provides for the use of drones 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 extinguishing of the fire.
The operational use of drones began in August of this year.
Mr. Alexandrou stated that in the coming years it is planned to intensify the use of these means, since the Department of Forests, in addition to providing services from the Center of Excellence "CARE-C", will also develop its own team of drones.
CNA
