The Ministry of Agriculture announced new measures to enhance prevention and preparedness for the risks of forest and forest fires, within the framework of a plan based on prior intervention to manage vegetation and reduce flammable materials before fires break out.
In a statement, the Minister of Agriculture, Nizar Hani, issued a circular that sets an integrated practical framework for maintenance, cleaning, and reducing flammable plant mass, in parallel with organizing preventive grazing, in a way that preserves trees and natural regeneration and contributes to limiting the spread of fires.
The circular comes within an approach adopted by the Ministry, which is based on prevention before fires break out, through prior management of vegetation and flammable materials, and enhancing cooperation with municipalities, local authorities, and environmental associations, instead of limiting efforts to dealing with fires after they occur.
The circular stipulates that the Ministry of Agriculture, in cooperation with municipalities and environmental associations, will undertake the implementation of landscaping, cleaning, individualization, and removal of flammable plant mass in forests and forests belonging to the state, especially Bruti pine forests, based on technical statements that determine the priorities and needs of each site.
The Ministry’s regional departments will also prepare regulations for forests and forests owned by the Lebanese Republic that need maintenance and prevention work, allowing efforts to be directed to the areas most at risk from fires.
As for the crops resulting from maintenance work, they will be managed and sold in accordance with legal procedures, with the aim of preventing any unregulated forest investment or cutting work that takes place outside the legal frameworks.
The circular gave municipalities a fundamental role in the prevention system, by preparing regulations for forests and forests belonging to them or located within their commons, and submitting them to the regional departments in the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct technical inspections and determine the required work.
Municipalities also undertake maintenance work on their properties and commons, either directly or through contract, in coordination with the Ministry and in accordance with legal procedures.
Measures include periodically cleaning roadsides of dry grass, waste, and other flammable materials, with the aim of reducing the possibility of fire moving from populated areas and roads to forests and forests, or in the opposite direction.
In a new step within the prevention measures, the circular enshrined regulated grazing as one of the tools for managing vegetation, so that it is allowed in unburned and legally permitted sites, with the aim of reducing weeds and flammable plant mass.
Grazing is subject to a license issued by the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources that specifies the location, time period, number and type of livestock, in a way that ensures the protection of trees, natural regeneration, and the prevention of overgrazing, provided that the legal obligation for grazing in forests and forests belonging to the state and municipalities is applied.
On the other hand, grazing is prohibited in forests and sites that have been subjected to fires or felling for the period specified by law, in addition to all sites where applicable laws and regulations prohibit grazing, with the aim of protecting natural regeneration and preventing the deterioration of soil and vegetation.
Hani stressed “the necessity of stopping any cutting, clearing, clearing, or grazing work that is carried out in violation of the licensing conditions, and organizing arrest reports against violators and referring them to the competent authorities in accordance with legal principles.”
The circular stressed that implementing the new procedures requires continuous field coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture, municipalities, unions of municipalities, environmental associations, and concerned parties, in order to enhance the ability to proactively manage fire risks.
Hani pointed out that “protecting the Lebanese forests cannot be based on fighting fires only after they break out, but rather begins with preventive and proactive management of the forest.”
He said: “The forest is not just trees, but an integrated ecosystem, and protecting it requires scientific management of the vegetation cover, periodic maintenance, organized cleaning, regulating grazing, and strengthening control over the land. Our goal is to move from the logic of extinguishing fires to the logic of preventing them and reducing the possibility of their spread.”
He added: “We are working to build an effective partnership with municipalities, local communities, and environmental associations, because protecting forests is a shared national responsibility, and because prevention begins with managing the land before the fire reaches it.”
He stressed that the Ministry will continue to strengthen preventive, indicative and field measures to protect forest wealth, stressing that forest sustainability, protection of biodiversity and natural regeneration constitute an essential part of the Ministry of Agriculture’s policy in managing natural resources and confronting the increasing risks of climate change and fires.
The circular will be implemented immediately upon its issuance, provided that the relevant units in the Ministry of Agriculture are responsible for following up on its implementation in the field and coordinating with the relevant local authorities, with the aim of strengthening an integrated national system for preventing forest fires and forests and protecting the Lebanese forest wealth.
Fire prevention measures gain particular importance during the dry season and high temperatures, as dry grasses and the accumulation of flammable plant materials increase the speed of fire expansion, while cleaning forests, roadsides, and vegetation management constitute an essential part of the measures used to reduce the risk of fire outbreaks and spread.
