Due to the ongoing climate change, the temperature increase already underway and the expected dramatic weather fluctuations bringing, among other things, longer periods with minimal rainfall in the summer months, the risk of forest fires in Central Europe is increasing significantly. Early detection of areas with an increased probability of forest fires increases the preparedness of emergency services, local authorities and citizens for potential threats. This is why a cross-border forest fire early warning system is currently being developed with the participation of the Czech Environmental Information Agency.
The creation of the system is supported by the Wildfire CE project of the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2021-2027 programme, the aim of which is to create a multilingual information portal enabling early specification of areas with increased or high risk of occurrence and spread of forest fires, taking into account terrain configuration, type and condition of landscape cover, current moisture/precipitation, wind strength and direction and other parameters. All this with a cross-border overlap, or using data from both sides of the national borders.
The lead partner of the project is the Saxon Ministry of Regional Development. The project will involve institutions and organisations from Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Italy.
Find out more about the project here.
