site.bta National Audit Office Finds Lack of Development Plan for Forest Sector

National Audit Office Finds Lack of Development Plan for Forest Sector

Sofia, October 15 (BTA) - The Bulgarian National Audit Office
(BULNAO) carried out an audit of the activity of state bodies
responsible for prevention and reaction to forest fires, the
BULNAO said Wednesday. The audit is part of an internationally
coordinated effort with the participation of the supreme audit
institutions of Ukraine and Russia, the latter serving as
project coordinator.

From October 13 to 15, the BULNAO hosted a meeting on the
internationally coordinated audit and discussed together with
the competent participating institutions of Russia and Ukraine
the results of the national audits, which will be included in a
joint report.

In its audit, the BULNAO assessed the actions for prevention and
reaction to forest fires of the Agriculture and Food Ministry,
the Executive Forest Agency and the Fire Safety and Population
Protection Chief Directorate with the Interior Ministry in the
period from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013.

The BULNAO found that there is no Strategic Development Plan for
the Forest Sector for the 2012-2015 period, due to the change
in the concept for the forest sector's management and control in
2011. Also lacking are forestry plans for nearly 60 per cent of
the forest territories owned by private natural and legal
persons, which creates risks for the effective protection of
Bulgarian forests from fires.

The audit also established a delay in the process of analysis,
assessment and mapping of the risks of forest fires, which could
lead to financial restrictions for Bulgaria given that this is
one of the preliminary conditions for the 2014-2020 programming
period. Towards the end of the audit period, there was no
established methodology and no analysis and assessment of the
risks of forest fires.

The start of the elaboration of a new system for early warning
and informing of the Executive's bodies and the population led
to the informing of just 35 per cent of the population. The
remaining 65 per cent had to be informed through the old siren
system, the operation capacity of which has been exhausted.
Automatic systems for locating and informing about forest fires
have been established only in 7 per cent of Bulgaria's forest
territories, the BULNAO found.

A total of 136 volunteer formations with 1,920 volunteers in 133
municipalities were registered as at December 31, 2013, the
audit shows.

As a result of the audit, a total of 18 recommendations have
been presented to the Interior Minister and the Agriculture and
Food Minister.