Task force to prevent fires

Brasilia 247 – An event held at the Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center aims to evaluate actions taken to combat forest fires last year and establish work goals for the upcoming dry season.

The event, which ends today at 17 pm, assists the work of the agencies involved in fighting fires in the Federal District. "Our goal in this edition is to restore the function of the Forum," stated the Emergency and Environmental Risks Manager of the Brasília Environmental Institute (Ibram), Andréa Pereira.

According to the manager, among the topics scheduled to be discussed at the event are: environmental education initiatives, the influence of solid waste management on the incidence of fires in conservation units, and the importance of forest fire simulations.

A good example of the effectiveness of the solutions produced by the Forum was the acquisition of 150 backpack sprayers, carried out in 2011 by Ibram. Used by park rangers to extinguish small fires, the equipment helped reduce the volume of hectares burned in 2011 by almost 20%, explained technicians from the Institute.

The Forum includes the participation of representatives from the Fire Department, the Urban Cleaning Service (SLU), the Secretariat of Environment and Water Resources (Semarh), the Brasília National Park, and the Botanical Garden.

Prevention plan

Established in 1996, the Forest Fire Prevention and Control Plan mobilizes various agencies to optimize the use of available resources in fire prevention and control actions in conservation units, especially those that comprise the Core Zones of the Cerrado Biosphere Reserve – Phase I. These include: Brasília National Park, Botanical Garden, Águas Emendadas Ecological Station (Esecae), Ecological Reserve of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and Água Limpa Farm of the University of Brasília.

With information from Agência Brasília.