Forest fires are considered as a major and permanent threat for the forests of Cyprus. Every year, forest fires cause enormous and irreparable damage to forest ecosystems and in some cases threaten residential regions. The present work aims at studying the perceptions and attitudes of the residents of the prefecture of Larnaca with regards to the actions of the Cyprus Fire Department and the other Services of the Prefecture, before, during and after the fires. The research was conducted with a face-to-face questionnaire.
Forest fires constitute a persisting problem, with a rather upward trend during the last
twenty years, for most Mediterranean countries, even though regulatory bodies have
been investing more funds in strategies to prevent and mainly suppress them
Furthermore, the tendency of people to live within or near forests or woodlands
not only increases the risk of fire but also alters priorities in the appropriation of fire
extinguishing means
In earlier years, the confrontation of forest fires was more effective, as the life and
prosperity of the population was directly related to the forest
Especially for the forests of Cyprus, fires are considered as a very big threat.
Every year, forest fires cause irreparable damage to forest ecosystems and in some
cases threaten residential regions. There are many factors that contribute to increased
fire risk in Cyprus, such as the high temperatures and the prolonged drought periods,
as well as the extremely flammable vegetation. The accumulation of biomass due to
the abandonment of rural areas and the increasing tourism recreation in forested areas
are also important factors which contribute to increased fire risk, especially during
summer months
The aim of this paper is to investigate the views of the residents in the prefecture of Larnaca with regards to the actions taken by the Forest Department, the Local Services and the residents before, during and after a forest fire. Questions that seek urgent answers are: (a) What preventive measures should be taken for mitigating the fire risk? (b) What are the potential omissions/limitations and where does the Forest Department need to put more emphasis?
The research was carried out with the application of a face-to-face structured
questionnaire delivered in the province of Larnaca, an area located on the southern
coast of Cyprus, with a population of 143,192 inhabitants, of which 59% live in the
city of Larnaca, the third-largest city of Cyprus after Nicosia and Limassol
(CYSTAT, 2011). The state forests in Cyprus cover an area of 163,529 ha, i.e.
17.74% of the total area of the island
Random sampling was applied for the sake of simplicity in the procedure. The
population ratio that is also the impartial evaluation of the real ratio of the population
p and the assessment of the standard error of the population ratio of the sp without
correction of the finite population as the sampling fraction is small, has been
calculated using the formulae of simple random sampling. To calculate the size of the
sample, pre-sampling was performed with a sample size of 50 individuals, based on
the formulae of simple random sampling (where t=1.96 and e=0.048). Even though
simple random sampling without off-reset was used, the correction of the finite
population was skipped as the sample size n was small in relation to the population
size N
In order to ensure reliability, the multivariate method of Factor Analysis was
applied. Factor Analysis is a statistical method which aims to discover the existence
of factors which are common within a group of variables (Sharma, 1996). In
particular, we used the method of Principal Components which is based on the
Spectral Analysis of the variance table (correlation). Regarding the significance of
the principal components, the criterion used was the one suggested by Guttman and
Kaiser
According to the Cypriot local authorities, all fires occurring (or expanding)
within the State forest or within two kilometers from the boundaries of the State
forest are classified as forest fires. The primary responsibility for them lies with the
Department of Forests of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and
Environment
With regards to prevention, suppression and recovery of forest fires the inhabitants of the prefecture of Larnaka were asked to assess these actions of the Cyprus Department of Forests. In particular, the respondents evaluated the actions for the suppression of forest fires as very good (40.3%) and good (46.2%). Accordingly, the actions for prevention had good acceptance from the inhabitants (30.1% very good and 50.1% good), while the actions of recovery in the burnt areas faced lower acceptance (33.8% mediocre and 32.7% good) (Table 1).
For the prevention of forest fires, fire outposts were manned during the fire season
and patrolling was organized in various forest regions, not only within forests but
especially along the forest delimitation line where most of the forest fires start
Variables There are patrols along the forest delimitation line There are patrols within the forests There are manned fire-outposts The Department of Forests conducts vegetation removal-clearance in forests Residents remove all dry greens from their farmland There are recreational areas within the forests that attract visitors Residents light fires to burn agricultural leftovers even if this is forbidden Residents are educated –informed on how to deal with a forest fire Residents built their residence within or next to the forest The fire is dealt with along the forest delimitation line The fire is dealt with within the forest The fire is dealt with at the village edges Residents participate in the extinguishing of the fires There was participation of Services other than the Fire Service in the fires There is requisition and mobilization of private fire extinguishing machinery Trees are logged to create anti- fire zones 34.3 0.0242 40.0 0.0250 33.2 0.0240 35.1 0.0244 32.7 0.0239 37.1 0.0247 40.5 0.0251 29.6 0.0233 35.8 0.0245 37.7 0.0247 34.0 0.0242 40.8 0.0251 32.2 0.0238 32.5 0.0239 33.2 0.0238 31.7 0.0237 20.8 0.0207 29.1 0.0232 34.0 0.0242 29.4 0.0232 27.3 0.0227 28.6 0.0231 22.6 0.0213 14.8 0.0181 11.4 0.0232 19.5 0.0202 19.2 0.0201
The avoidance of accumulation of combustible material is a very important
measure in the prevention of forest fires, as disrupting the continuity of combustible
material prevents the spreading of fire
The residents also stated that recreation areas organized in the public forests very
often (43.9%) and often (37.1%) attract more visitors. Although, Tampakis et al.,
(2005) consider that more visitations can cause more fires in the forests, this increase
is mainly due to the rural abandonment and consequently due to the accumulation of
fuel. The population that lives in the countryside is aged and very often, in order to
clean the land, they light fires without being able to control them. In Spain, and
Greece the current trend to burn the fields has been reported to increase
Younger people can more easily adopt modern methods through awareness
building and training (Karanikola et al., 201
In Cyprus the suppression of a forest fire is usually done by ground personnel.
Under certain conditions, aircrafts can contribute to combating fires but the final
effort is made on the ground. Thus, the residents of Larnaca were asked how satisfied
they were about the actions of the Forest Department within the forest and at the
village edges. During the demographic development in many European and USA
areas, people built their first or second residence near or within forests
Traditionally, the confrontation of fires is performed manually, with portable tools
and through the creation of infrastructure for the speedy detection of fire which
ensures the quick putting out of fire. The arrival of mechanical means increases the
probabilities for a successful confrontation of the fire. Pumps are widely used even
when it is difficult to transport them to the areas needed. However, practice shows
that fire protection teams tend to move back when the sound of the pump is heard,
believing that the water will do the job without manual work being needed. The same
often happens when bulldozers appear in the scene. The same pattern can be detected
with regards to air fire-extinguishing forces
According to the current legislation, after any fire the Forest Department is obliged to take measures for the protection of the natural generation and the burnt area and for the reforestation of the areas where no significant natural rebirth is expected. On this matter, 32.7% of the residents stated that reforestation by the Forest Department, when needed, happens sometimes (and 34% often). Similar were their views for the public participation in the reforestation efforts; 35.1% said that this happened sometimes, 29.4%, often and 10.9% rarely. For a successful reforestation the burnt area is necessary to be protected from grazing. According to the residents, some years after the fire the greening land was often (22.6%), sometimes (33%) and rarely (20.3%) grazed by stock animals.
A forest fire can cause damage to residences, fruit trees and animal stocking.
27.3% of the people answered that financial support were often provided to those
who suffered losses, while 37.9% answered “sometimes”. Agricultural areas face
serious problems and the result is young people abandoning them
It is common knowledge that in many areas globally the purpose of forest fires is
the clear-cutting and then the appropriation of public forest land
In the above variables reliability analysis was applied, after the appropriate checks were performed. The reliability co-efficient alpha was 0.861 and this result provided strong evidence that the grades of the scale are logically consistent.
Also factor analysis was applied and 8 factors were extracted. In Table 3 the loadings are given after rotation of the factors. Some of them constitute the correlation coefficients of the 8 variables with every one of the 8 variables extracted from the analysis. -0.152 -0.094
3
The bigger the loadings of the variable in each factor, the more this factor is responsible for the total variance to the grades within the variable under consideration.
The variables that ‘belong’ to every factor are those for which the loading (columns 1, 2, 3) is bigger (than 0.5) in this factor (Table 3).
The 1st factor (hereafter characterized as “preventive measures”) comprises the 2 “patrolling” variables and “manned fire-outposts”. The 6th factor (hereafter characterized as “vegetation and visitors’ management” comprises the variables “vegetation removal-clearance in forests”, “dry greens removal from the farmlands” and “recreational areas”. The 8th factor (hereafter “burning of agricultural leftovers” includes only this variable. The 4th factor (hereafter “socialization of forest fires” consists of the variables “Information and education of citizens”, “residences within the forests”, “fires confronted along the forest delimitation line”, “fire-fighting equipment” and “grazing of the burnt area”. An interesting finding here is the fact that the residents try to stop fires at the forest delimitation line; their concern is to save their homes, rather than protecting the forests.
In the 7th factor (hereafter called “traditional ways of firefighting”) the variables “fires confronted within the forest” and “with the appearance of air-fire extinguishing ground forces stop operating” are summarized. On the contrary, the 2nd factor (hereafter “integrated ways of confronting forest fires”) includes the variables “fires dealt with along the village edges”, “participation of other services”, “requisition and mobilization of private machinery” and “anti-fire-zones”. The 5th factor called “local communities and forest fires” consists of the variables “evacuation of villages”, “residents’ participation in reforestation”, “financial support of the people affected”, “reforestation at-play”. The 3rd factor called “consequences of fires” comprises the variables “area abandoning”, “job creation after the fire”, “Encroachment of forest land” and “purchase or exchanging of private land within the state forests”.
Fire constitutes the most serious danger for the forests of Cyprus, due to the lack of proper prevention measures. In particular the residents of Larnaca, with respect to the “preventing measures” group of actions, believe that the existence of manned fire outposts were not organized effectively but the patrols in the forests seem to hold a more positive view. Regarding the “vegetation management” group of actions, the residents also hold a negative view on the work made by the Forest Department to remove all the dry vegetation from the forests. They also consider that the majority of the residents don’t remove the vegetation from their farmlands, a fact that raises extra concerns as the removal of combustible material is well-known as the most important way of protecting the forest from fire. Nevertheless, there seems to be reasonable awareness building among residents on how to confront forest fires.
Similarly, it becomes obvious that many farmers behave in undesirable ways when it comes to the burning of agricultural leftovers. Although it is not easy to change the behavior of aged people on the use of fire to the removal of leftovers, a possible way to address this issue could be to promote a co-operation between the authorities and the farmers on how to control the burning of leftovers.
With regards to the actions taken after a forest fire the respondents view rather negatively the reaction of the Forest Department and of the general public in reforestation efforts. Also they are not absolutely satisfied about the financial support provided to the people affected. It is positive however that after a fire no major abandoning of the areas is reported.
On the whole, forests need to be protected not only from fire but also from other factors which contribute to their construction. The best way to guard the forests is their management with the creation of goods and services from them. Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) - Research Funding Program: Thales. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund.