National Center Hosts Forum To Bolster Forest Fire Prevention Efforts

The "Forest Fire Prevention Strategies Forum," organised by the National Center for Vegetation Cover (NCVC), began today and will continue for two days. This event, in collaboration with King Khalid University and Monash University in Australia, gathers experts in fire management, prevention techniques, risk mitigation strategies, and community participation.

During the forum's opening session, Dr. Khaled Al-Abdulkader, CEO of NCVC, highlighted that forest fires are a global issue affecting the Kingdom as well. He stressed the importance of this forum in enhancing prevention strategies and reducing forest fires. "Forest fires are a global concern, and the Kingdom is not exempt from this issue," he stated.

The second day's sessions will delve into international practices in fire management and risk mitigation. Discussions will include integrated management outcomes, fire risk assessments, spatial data systems, training programs, community involvement, and volunteer organisations' roles in forest fire prevention.

On the first day, interactive training workshops covered various topics such as fire management programs and types of fires in the Kingdom. Sessions also addressed integrated fire management, associated risks and impacts, preparedness measures, and defining roles of firefighting teams. A successful local team's example was presented to highlight key issues and future priorities.

Prof. Hamed Majdou Al-Qarni from King Khalid University emphasised King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's dedication to vegetation cover across all environments in the Kingdom. This commitment is evident through initiatives like the Saudi Green Initiative and Middle East Green Initiative launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

NCVC is working on designing a system for monitoring forest lands to develop a comprehensive forest fire management system. This includes preventive tools, early warning systems, response mechanisms involving sensing technologies, technical and human monitoring methods for initial fire response.

Rehabilitation Efforts

NCVC's efforts extend to rehabilitating affected areas through field studies assessing damage extent. They aim to identify causes of fires and frequently affected areas while creating databases on affected species to inform necessary actions. Additionally, NCVC is intensifying efforts related to planting native trees and shrubs to compensate for vegetation loss.

The forum features interactive training workshops showcasing leading international practices in fire management. These workshops cover several sessions including nature and types of fires in the Kingdom, integrated fire management risks and impacts, preparedness measures, roles of effective firefighting teams with real-world examples.

The forum aims to improve forest fire prevention strategies through expert discussions on various topics including community participation's role in achieving these goals. The event highlights significant steps toward reducing forest fires by implementing recommendations from these discussions.

The NCVC's initiatives include developing early warning systems for preventing fires using sensing technologies. They focus on technical and human monitoring methods for initial response to contain and extinguish fires effectively.

The forum underscores the importance of community involvement in forest fire prevention through training programs on fire awareness impacts institutional arrangements activating local teams' roles effectively.

This event brings together specialists from different fields discussing prominent international practices integrated management outcomes reviews analyses including spatial data systems training community involvement volunteer organisations' roles key educational programs on fire awareness impacts institutional arrangements activating local teams' roles effectively.

With inputs from SPA