Due to delays in approving the fire safety preventive measures plan prepared by the forest manager for three specially protected nature areas, there is an increasing risk that a wildfire could wreak havoc there.
State forest manager A/S Latvijas valsts meži (LVM) is facing a paradoxical situation, as the Kurzeme Regional Administration of the Nature Conservation Agency is delaying the approval of its fire safety preventive measures plan.
“The current situation, where we are administratively prevented from timely implementation of the work provided for in the fire safety plans, gives rise to concerns that during the 2020 forest fire hazard period, LVM will not be able to ensure the full implementation of fire safety preventive measures in the mentioned nature reserves,” emphasises LVM Forest Protection and Firefighting Manager Edijs Leišavnieks. He explains that to facilitate the fast, operational and successful detection, containment and suppression of forest fires, LVM has developed fire safety preventive measures plans for all the forest areas it manages, which have been approved by the State Forest Service. In addition, LVM developed individual plans for specially protected nature areas, the implementation of which requires not only the approval of the State Forest Service but also the consent of the Nature Conservation Agency. In general, this plan approval process has proceeded successfully in Latvia; however, the Kurzeme Regional Administration of the Nature Conservation Agency has not permitted the implementation of the preventive plans approved by the State Forest Service, creating obstacles to carrying out fire safety preventive measures in three specially protected nature areas – the “Stikla purvi”, “Ovīši” and “Ances purvi un meži” nature reserves. LVM expresses concern and deep bewilderment at the current situation, where such deliberate delay significantly increases the fire safety risk in these important territories. LVM calls on the responsible state institutions and officials to get involved promptly in mitigating fire risks in the nature reserves.
Without preventive measures, it will be impossible to extinguish fires
“This is required (established) by the Fire Safety Regulations, which have been in force since April 2016,” answers Zigmunds Jaunķiķis, Deputy Head of the Forest and Environmental Protection Department of the State Forest Service, to the question of where the requirements for developing a forest fire safety preventive measures plan are defined. He is quick to add that this requirement is mandatory for those forest owners or possessors who manage a contiguous forest land area larger than 5,000 hectares. “The State Forest Service’s approval is a confirmation that the measures included in the fire safety preventive measures plans are significant for the SFS to be able to carry out its forest firefighting function and ensure public safety. It is important to realise that the SFS, while performing its forest firefighting function, is simultaneously carrying out civil protection tasks, which are important for national security,” emphasises Z. Jaunķiķis. In his opinion, it is unacceptable that for three specially protected nature areas under the supervision of the Kurzeme Regional Administration of the Nature Conservation Agency, no approval has been received for a fire safety preventive measures plan, the purpose of which is to improve overall fire safety, ensuring the SFS has the ability to quickly and operationally contain and suppress forest fires that break out. “In a situation where forest fire risks are increasing due to low precipitation, areas where the instructions provided in the fire safety preventive measures plan have not been implemented will remain at a very high fire risk, as a result of which large-scale, uncontrollable forest fires could develop, with unpredictable consequences,” points out Z. Jaunķiķis.
The fire hazard season has begun
It should be reminded that on 24 April this year, the State Forest Service declared the start of the forest fire hazard period, which imposes additional requirements and restrictions on both forest managers and visitors. This year, since the beginning of the year, a total of 172 forest fires have already been registered, with the total area of burnt forest land being 68.1 hectares, including 30.5 hectares of young stands.
In 2019, forest fires were extinguished 1,110 times over an area of 821.67 hectares.
In total, 87.6% of forest fire outbreaks were caused by careless handling of fire, while 4.3% were caused by deliberate arson.
83% of burnt forests in protected areas
A/S “Latvijas valsts meži” Forest Protection and Firefighting Manager Edijs Leišavnieks recalls the dry summer of 2018, when 83% of burnt forests were precisely in protected areas. At that time, the largest forest fire of the last decade in Latvia occurred in Kurzeme – in the “Stiklu purvi” specially protected nature area. The fire destroyed almost one and a half thousand hectares of the nature reserve, and the residents of Stikli village were also under threat. The work to contain and suppress the forest fire lasted for 10 weeks, with the responsible services working day and night.
Both Latvian and international experience shows that the greatest risk of forest fires is in specially protected nature areas. The increasing volume of dead and dry wood due to human inaction promotes the rapid spread of fire, while the lack of forest roads and economic infrastructure caused by administrative bans hinders firefighting operations and prevents the stopping of the fire’s spread.
Must be protected, but they won't let us!
“What is happening? Who is responsible for what in Latvia?” asks Māris Liopa, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Forest Owners and Managers Confederation, evaluating the situation. He believes that in a situation where one institution has the exclusive right to simply not approve a fire safety preventive measures plan, it should also have the duty to ensure fire safety in the relevant territory and, if necessary, provide for the costs of extinguishing a fire. “A forest owner or manager cannot be legally responsible if they are unable to fulfil what the regulations demand,” emphasises M. Liopa. He believes that such behaviour should be considered unacceptable and that the possible swift solutions must be discussed immediately at the Cabinet of Ministers level. “It cannot be that no fire safety preventive measures plan can be implemented in specially protected nature areas and therefore it is better for natural values to burn down. Are they searching for and protecting them just so that they can burn down as a result of deliberate action (inaction)?” expresses M. Liopa. He draws attention to the strange situation that it is not only in Latvia where the “best” burning forests are those subject to nature protection. “Who will cover the losses for private forest owners whose properties border or are located next to these specially protected nature areas, in the event that a blaze spreads from them?” asks M. Liopa.