Forest Protection Programme Among Young People

Forest fires in Europe and Poland Over the last decade there has been an increase in the number of forest fires in Europe. Poland is the third country in Europe in terms of the number of fires. Over 60% of all fires recorded in Central and Eastern Europe occurred in Poland between 1991 and 2001. Information about fires in Poland is collected in the National Forest Fire Information System (KSIPL). KSIPL is part of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) and it is the only source of information about the fire situation in Poland. One to provide suppot to the strulggling state owned forests was the privatization witch is becoming increasingly popular in Europe. It is the owner who is responsible for his property. As the forest In Poland is claimed to be a common good and the traditional aspect has to be maintained the whole communities care about the forest and its safety.

Levels of fire In Poland there are three levels of fire dangers: I – Extreme dangers II - Moderate dangers III - Low dangers During the term of the first level fire dangers the entrantering forests and kindling fires, even in designated places, is prohibited. The Seasonal prohibition to enter the state – owned forests is intruduced by the district manager. It means that he measures ithe litter moisture at 9 am and if it is lower than 10 per cent in 5 days he forbids the entrance.

Our Forest District - Wronki Our Forest District ist placed Greater Poland. The total surface is 19019,3 ha including forest area - 17746,33 ha. The main type of tree is Pinus. Forest district falls to first level of forest fire dangers. Therefore it is most exposed to fire rise.

Why is the forest in the Wronki Forest District exposed to fire? Our Forest District is included in to first level of fire dangers because there are a lot of pine stands with easily inflammable undergrowth consisting of, among others,: grass, heather, bilberry. The most common cause the formation of forests is unknown .Between the summer and the autumn time the danger of fire is connected with the extended penetration of forests by tourists and local people during berries and mushrooms’ harvest . Farmers whose fields are next to forest often burn the grass not caring about the option of the forest arson. Rare reason fot fires are the flawed implementation, bonfires in not marked places and atmospheric factors.

Preventive measures for fires Forest district in Wronki uses the Observation and alarm system which task is detection of fire in woodland. Alarm-disposable point in forest district is equiped with: phone, fax, base radiotelephone, automatic meteorological station, computer with internet access, e-las application, Forest Numeric Map. In terms of extended risks woodland forest territories in Wronki is the subject to the observation by patrol chartered airplane of the Regional Management Forests State in Piła. FIRE TOWER

How Observation and alarm system helps detecting fires? Towers are necessary in I and II level forest districts . They are placed in the ultimate points in forest district dievidet by straight lines between 10 kilometers to 20 kilometers. Each of them measures 37 kilometers. Two observers work there, who share duties. They work usually from 1 April to 30 September, when fire danger is the highest. Observations start at 9am and abide to nightfall. On good visibility from the tower can be seen area in rays. Objects are equipped in: radiotelephone, cell phone, a protractor to determine the location of the fire, map and binoculars. On-duty attendants must keep a watch diary. If you notice a fire, information about location of this reaches the point of alarm and disposition in the superintendence.

Ways of locating a fire online To locate a fire, use an online firefighting map, which is based on the executioners from the observation towers shows the exact location of the fire.

Ways of locating a fire manually Fire can also be located in a traditional way using a map board, which is located in every superintendence. The photo shows how to locate the fire.

Who extinguishes a fire? The first at the place of fire is a forest guard, which is able to extinguish a small fire. There is a Fire Rescue Unit (Fire Brigade) in Szamotuły and Voluntary Fire Brigades operating within the a administrative Superintendence in Wronki. The time that elapse from seeing the fire to reaching the fire extinguisher is 49 minutes. (National Forest)

Preventive measures fires In the forest area registered 31 points of water for fire extinguishing. In most villages adjacent to forests there is a network of hydrants. Fire hydrants marked on the map fire protection can be used during fire extinguishments. Water Point

Types of fire belts in forests Type A - is a 30 meters wide strip of land adjacent to boundary of road belt or object. It separates the forest from public roads, non-public access roads. Type B - is a 30 meters wide strip of land separating the forest from car parks, industrial plants and roadways. Type C - is a soil belt with a width of 30 to 100 meters. It separates the forest from objects in military training grounds. Type D - is a belt of soil with a width of 30 to 100 meters. Belts are made in areas with high fire risk. Type BK - is a belt of soil in the vicinity of a traffic line on which traffic is running. The photo shows fire protection belt type A in Superintendence in Wronki.

Effects of forest fires There is smoke, whose basic components are toxic hydrocarbons for humans and nature are deadly. Into the atmosphere get through large amounts of carbon dioxide, sulfur and aromatic hydrocarbons with carcinogenic properties. The burned earth is more exposed to wind and water erosion (mainly on the slopes). Perished protected and valuable species of plants. Their habitat, place of dwelling they lose hundreds of species of forest and field animals. Cause direct material losses. (In the State Forests in 2000-2015 they amounted to nearly 80 million PLN). Causes changes in the atmosphere due to emissions of combustion products.

SOURCE MATERIALS http://www.zabezpieczenia.com.pl/systemy-sygnalizacji-po%C5%BCarowej/system-zabezpieczenia-przeciwpo%C5%BCarowego-obszar%C3%B3w-le%C5%9Bnych http://kurekmazurski.pl/wypatrzec-pozar-2007021736472/ https://www.google.pl/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0ahUKEwixlcn4iLvTAhXJliwKHcoCBrUQFghFMAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zsl.ibles.pl%2Fdocuments%2Fabstracts_2016%2FZSL-14Szczygiel%2520Perlinska.docx&usg=AFQjCNFLfcYblFlRTPKYw0StYQqKMT6GYA&sig2=O2stvfU8Dd6CVXeIJ9TUEg http://www.pila.psp.wlkp.pl/pliki/bezp_6.pdf http://www.igik.edu.pl/upload/Image/teledetekcja/poster/2014geomatykapozary60na90.pdf http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/poland/location.html Thank you for sharing information and pictures of the Wronki Forest District to Mr. Ernest Szuflak. We thank Mr. Ryszard Bugaj for sharing photos. We are the authors of some of the photos used in the presentation.

Gimnazjum im. Zbigniewa Herberta we Wronkach Presentation authors Weronika Jankowiak Julia Michalak Klaudia Brust Gimnazjum im. Zbigniewa Herberta we Wronkach Class 3E