Grass is burned in autumn – Newspaper Kommersant No. 27 (7472) of 02/14/2023

Rosleskhoz introduced a moratorium on spring preventive annealing of dry grass, postponing the main work on the destruction of vegetation in the fall. According to officials, this measure will reduce the risk of forest fires spreading in case of adverse weather conditions. Environmentalists confirm that the suspension of preventive fires can reduce the area of ​​spring landscape fires in the country by tens of percent.

“The bulk of the work on preventive burning on the lands of the forest fund should be postponed to autumn, after the end of the fire season and before the first snow,” the press service of the agency quoted Aleksey Venglinsky, deputy head of Rosleskhoz, as saying. “This will reduce the risk of forest fires spreading in case of adverse weather conditions. conditions. Only competent representatives of forest fire formations can carry out professional burning.

Controlled grass fires are arranged to prevent the spread of fire: dry grass can carry fires for many kilometers. At the same time, this is the cheapest method of clearing hayfields and pastures from last year’s vegetation. Often, agricultural enterprises resort to just this method to restore order on the land. However, controlled burnings themselves sometimes cause large-scale fires.

Rosleskhoz notes that for 2023 the planned volume of dry grass burning is almost 222 thousand hectares, while 87% of the total planned volume falls on the regions of the Far East. The main work within the framework of preventive annealing will be carried out in the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory, they note there.

Ecologists interviewed by Kommersant support the decision of Rosleskhoz. In their opinion, a moratorium on professional burning in the spring can reduce the area of ​​spring landscape fires by tens of percent. Moreover, Greenpeace Russia has been offering such an initiative since 2010, says the organization’s expert Alexei Yaroshenko. Most of the catastrophic spring landscape fires, especially in Siberia and the Far East, can be associated with preventive burning, he says. Controlled fires often turn into uncontrolled ones, the ecologist explains. In addition, professional burning, which is carried out by people in forest or fire uniforms, is an “advertisement” of the dangerous handling of fire for the local population, Mr. Yaroshenko points out.

WWF Russia expert Konstantin Kobyakov agrees with him, who emphasizes that the legislative ban on burning dry vegetation for citizens that has been in force for several years practically does not work. “Only isolated cases are known when they were actually punished. And the fact that government agencies and businesses continue to engage in burning creates the effect that there is no ban, and dry grass can still be burned,” he says.

Recall that in June 2022, fines for violating fire safety rules in forests and burning grass were increased. Now sanctions for citizens can range from 15,000 to 30,000 rubles, and in areas adjacent to forests, up to 40,000 rubles.

The Rosleskhoz also recognizes the problem: the federal headquarters for coordinating activities to extinguish forest fires also recommended that the heads of forest services jointly organize the prevention of uncontrolled grass burning by the local population. Rosleskhoz points out that, despite the ban on grass burning at the legislative level, according to statistics, 90% of spring fires are caused by local residents. “Uncontrolled burning of grass by the local population leads to landscape fires that can cause forest fires,” said Alexei Venglinsky. 66% and 42% of all registered forest fires originated from lands of other categories.

Konstantin Kobyakov also notes that preventive burnouts only work in the short term. “In the spring they burned it, but in the autumn there is nothing to burn. But strategically, this only makes matters worse. Frequently repeated fires have the effect that grass is replaced by vegetation that is more resistant to fires and is itself more fire hazardous. Dry landscapes are formed that catch fire very easily. With such frequent burnings, we form a more fire-hazardous situation in the long term,” he says.

Anna Vasilyeva