San José, May 6 (EFE) .- The Inter-American Institute for Agriculture Cooperation (IICA) reported on Tuesday that it trained 75 brigades of the Guanacaste Conservation Area (North Pacific), in Costa Rica, on the management of drones to reduce the digital gap in the combat of forest fires.
The IICA with the support of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) and the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae) of Costa Rica, carried out this training day within the framework of the celebration of the Forest Firefighter Day, date that recognizes the commitment of those who are dedicated to the fight against forest fires and the protection of natural resources.
“The demonstration addressed the legislation of the country that regulates the use of drones, the security concepts and the potential applications was emphasized. After that using light drones, practice flights were made within what allowed by the aviation standards and security criteria,” said the coordinator of the Digital Manufacturing Laboratory and Community Innovation (Fablab-Linc), Jonathan Castro.
The training was represented seven voluntary forest fire brigades of Costa Rica and also attended the park rangers, managers and personnel related to the issue of fire management.
“” Training was super important, will allow us to act from another perspective, already using technology to more easily reach fires or know at the time you can attack and where. The desire is to see all the brigades being able to pilot a drone in their communities, since they are like our eyes, those who warn us of their closest fires#, said the official of the Guanacaste conservation area in the Integral Fire Management Program, María Luisa Arias.
-This teaching event is part of the initiative of the IICA Agroforestry Firefighters of the Americas, which has the purpose of supporting the efforts aimed at educating, preventing and combating the problem of forest fires in the American continent.
According to the IICA, the initiative becomes transcendental, because according to data from the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), only the previous year the American continent accounted for an area devoured by forest fires of 952,074 square kilometers, that is, 2.24 % of its extension.
18.7 % of forest fires happened in forests, 23.6 % in savannas, 30.7 % in thickets and grasslands, 6.3 % in cultivation lands and 20.7 % in other areas.
Among the main fire conditions are the millions of tons of carbon that return to the atmosphere after decades of kidnapping by forests or biomass, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, interruptions of essential public services and effects in air quality and human health. EFE
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