Forest Monitoring System for Early Fire Detection and Assessment in the Balkan-Med Area (SFEDA)

The BalkanMed area is subject to large and reoccurring fires in combination with wrong post-fire management practices which are devastating for both natural environment and human communities. Early wildfire detection contributes greatly in the forest protection and reduces considerably the extend of burned forest land. The overall objective of the SFEDA project is to promote transnational cooperation among 3 of the countries in the Balkan-Med area. The project has a strong emphasis on the proof of the effectiveness of the technology and the implementation of a system for early detection of wildfires towards protecting the environment contributing to the climate change resiliency. Preservation of forests contributes to the significant reduction of GHG removal towards improvement of the resilience of ecosystems to climate change while minimizes the impact of extreme weather phenomena such as flooding.

The purpose of the SFEDA is to apply and demonstrate free technological solutions in 3 forests in 3 different countries and by sharing their experiences and expertise to promote and strengthen the cooperation of the cross border partners and improve the infrastructure for fire surveillance.

The specific objectives are:

• To jointly implement a system called THEASIS for day and night continues monitoring of the forests to improve considerably the systems for forest protection against wildfires based on SoA technologies.
• To evaluate, validate and disseminate the experiences of forest monitoring using advanced technologies.
• To promote widely and train for free regional authorities staff and firefighters in the use of new technologies for forest monitoring against wildfires.
• To prove the effectiveness and the main advantages of the THEASIS to be considered and adopted by the local authorities and governments.