Tunisia-Director General of Forests at Ministry of Agriculture talks about preparations to prevent fires during summer

Speaking to Tunisie Numérique, Director General of Forests at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mohamed Nofal Ben Haha noted that some amendments have been made in the intervention program to safeguard forests from blazes this year in coordination with the different intervening parties, after holding evaluation committees for last year’s season within the framework of fire prevention.

The same source added that the fire reduction program was launched at the ending of the afforestation period in late last March, through the maintenance of various equipment, including trucks, pumps, and firearms, in addition to the maintenance of paths that allow entry into the forest to intervene in the fire when needed. 

Our speaker also pointed out that among the most significant proactive measures to protect against fires is the maintenance of population centres, given the importance of the human element and the need to prevent the dangers to which it may be exposed. This is in addition to intervention to decrease random dumps that have spread in forests, which contribute largely to the outbreak of fires in light of changing climate conditions.

The spokesman stated that among the measures taken by the administration was the activation of a digital map to count the black spots that document the outbreak of fires more than once a year, pointing out that many centres have been concentrated that enable rapid intervention and restrict the expansion of fire areas, particularly if their number is large as big as what happened last year.