Russian govt expects 2024 wildfire season to be tougher
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - This year's wildfire season will be more difficult than in 2023, yet some regions are not fully prepared and have been tasked with fixing flaws uncovered by oversight agencies within the next two weeks, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said at a national conference on preparations for the wildfire season.
Governors and representatives of the Emergency Situations Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, the Energy Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, the Federal Agency for Forestry (Rosleskhoz), the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rosgidromet), and other agencies and services took part in the meeting, Abramchenko's press service said in a statement.
"Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko pointed out that the wildfire season will be more difficult this year than it was last year, given the weather situation. According to Roshydromet, the highest wildfire hazard will be observed in the Southern and North Caucasus Federal Districts and southern parts of the Urals and Siberian Federal Districts from the end of April this year. Therefore, regions must be proactive and take preventive measures against wildfires," the statement said.
According to Abramchenko, the federal government allocations exceed 17.6 billion rubles this year. The funds are due to protect forests from wildfires and procure firefighting equipment.
Russia saw wildfires on 4.3 million hectares in 2023, which was 1.3 times less than the limit by which wildfires must not exceed 5.5 million hectares. Twenty-four regions put out all wildfires within a day, and 14 regions prevented wildfires in 2023, Abramchenko said.
Most wildfires were seen in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East last year. Over 83% of them were reported by six regions, namely, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Khabarovsk Territory, the Magadan, Amur and Sverdlovsk regions, and the Jewish Autonomous Region.