site.btaAgriculture Ministry Plans Building Fire Lookout Towers Across All Forested Areas

Agriculture Ministry Plans Building Fire Lookout Towers Across All Forested Areas

Strazhitsa, North Bulgaria, August 16 (BTA) - The Agriculture
and Food Ministry has plans to build fire lookout towers in all
forested areas across the country, said Agriculture Minister
Dessislava Taneva here on Saturday during the town's holiday.
She told journalists that over 200 fires have erupted this year,
 with 98 per cent of them being the result of human negligence.

Close to 1,600 ha of forested areas have been affected by fires
this year. For the most part, those forests will recover, as the
 fires were burning low, but there are still around 350 ha of
forests high up in the mountains, which will need to be
re-forested, Taneva explained.

Some of the fires resulted from faulty farming equipment during
the clearing of pastures. Others were the result of fires made
by tourists or glass bottles thrown out, which have acted as a
magnifying glass and started a fire.

Currently there are fire lookout towers on just eight per cent
of the country's territory. There are 19 additional projects,
developed with financing under OP Rural Development, the
Minister explained. The towers will be managed via a universal
system under the Forests Executive Agency.

Minister Taneva noted a total of 522 km of forest roads will be
renovated by the year's end and a priority will be placed on the
 ones in remote areas.