The Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment announces that nine agricultural tractors and eight earth movers were received today, 17/11/2023. Part of the equipment was received in the framework of the implementation of the Intervention "Protection of forests from fires" (code: C2.1I9) which is part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan - Cyprus of Tomorrow. This equipment is part of the entire planning that is done with the aim of strengthening the capacity of the Department of Forests to deal with the phenomenon of forest fires in our country.
The use of agricultural tractors and earth movers both in the prevention and extinguishing of forest fires is necessary and imperative since they will be utilized during the implementation of: (1) preventive measures, with the creation and/or maintenance of fire zones and lanes at strategic points in the zone responsibility of the Forestry Department as well as the maintenance of the existing forest road network and (2) the implementation of fire suppression measures, since this equipment will play an important role in the operational planning of the forest firefighting forces to deal with forest fire incidents.
With the receipt of the equipment today, even before the official end of the 2023 fire season, the continuous planning and efforts made by the Forestry Department for its preparation and response to tomorrow's needs for the protection of Cypriot forests are evident .
