186 hectares in Armenia swept by bushfires this year
07.06.2012,
17:54
Some 40 bushfires swept 186 hectares of forests in Armenia this year against 53 fires and 472 hectares in 2011, Ruben Petrosyan, chief forester of Hayantar (Armenian Forest) state noncommercial organization, said on Thursday
YEREVAN, June 7. /ARKA/. Some 40 bushfires swept 186 hectares of forests in Armenia this year against 53 fires and 472 hectares in 2011, Ruben Petrosyan, chief forester of Hayantar (Armenian Forest) state noncommercial organization, said on Thursday.
“The most fire hazard areas in Armenia are Syunik and Lori provinces,” he said.
Petrosyan said that fires are mainly caused by reckless human behavior, particularly by villagers who burn grass on pastures near
forests igniting bushfires.
He said it is necessary to enhance public awareness and provide appropriate equipment to rural areas to prevent fires.
“Some 2,500 hectares have been swallowed by fires for the last 12 years,” he said. “Of them, 1,500 burnt for the last four years.”
The chief forester said that a pilot project was implemented recently in Syunik – three emergency teams worked here, and not a single fire has occurred in this province for two years thanks to this program.
“Now we are implementing a number of grant programs of bushfires prevention,” he said. “We are now developing a bushfire prevention program for 2013-2015 and will submit it to the government.”
Nazeli Vardanyan, director of the Forests of Armenia nongovernmental organization, on her side, pointed out some faults in the Armenian law in terms of bushfires saying there is only one provision related to bushfires, but this provision is declarative rather than practical.
She said that any area, regardless of its location, can be fire hazard.
Now Armenia has 332,000 hectares of forests – 11.17% less than in 1993. -0-
