The Department of Forests, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, informs the public that the period from 23 - 29 May 2022, has been designated as the Forest Protection Week for the year 2022. During this Week, which is organized every year, through a series of planned events and activities, a great effort will be made to raise the awareness of our entire society about the protection of our forests from fires and to pass the message that forest protection is the responsibility of all of us and that together we can and will succeed. With our memories of last year's deadly Arakapa fire fresh in our minds, our motto for this year is "To prevent it from happening again...".
For the purposes of better organization, cooperation, coordination and greater public awakening to the problem of forest fires, during the Forest Protection Week, the meetings held by the local Forestry Stations with all Local Authorities and other bodies involved in fire protection, including voluntary groups, will be intensified. Forestry Department officials will distribute educational materials and inform citizens about the start of the new summer season and the preventive measures to take to reduce the likelihood of forest fires starting and spreading. The whole effort of the Forestry Department to raise public awareness this year is also supported by the Bank of Cyprus with a series of actions.
The culmination of the activities of this year's Forest Protection Week will be a large-scale field exercise called "EFAISTOS 2022" in Kapedes, in the area of "Pularos", on Friday, May 27, at 10:30 a.m. The scenario of the exercise includes the application of the Special National Plan "EFAISTOS", which applies in the event of a large forest fire classified as a "crisis", and the Plan "IKAROS", which concerns flight operations.
The opening of Forest Protection Week 2022 will be declared by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Dr. Costas Kadis, at a press conference to be held on Monday, 23 May, in cooperation with the Bank of Cyprus, at the Bank of Cyprus headquarters in Nicosia.
Our environment and our forests are an invaluable national heritage that we must protect at all costs. They belong to all of us, they belong to our children, they belong to future generations. Protecting them is a responsibility and a vision, a challenge and a gamble with our history. That is why we call on all citizens to join in a collective effort to protect our forests from the ravages of fire.
(BG)
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