EU's Biotope Sensing Δ 10th of January 2014 Ω 10:47 PM

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~ Commissioner for Environment

»Commissioner for Environment

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~ Europa prepares for forest fires

»Europe prepares for forest fires – major simulation exercise held in Sardinia
ξ as the southern shores of Europe warm up, the risk of forest fires increases
ξ the European Commission and Member States are working closely together to prepare for the coming forest fire season
ξ building on the lessons learnt from the tragic experiences of 2007
ξ Five Member States and the European Commission's disaster Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC)
ξ are involved in a large-scale simulation exercise in Sardinia that runs from 16 to 19 April
ξ The exercise, SARDINIA 2008, forms part of a larger pilot project co-financed by the European Commission,
ξ which aims at developing the notion of a rapid European intervention force for disasters
ξ "When they work together, European countries can deliver a more effective response than they can by working alone,
ξ so this is an area where the EU brings clear added value,"
ξ said Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment and Civil Protection.
ξ "This project is an excellent example of the constructive relationship between Member States and the European Commission."

ξ Sardinia ARsons DIrect NIxing Action (SARDINIA 2008), as the exercise is called,
ξ kicked off on 14 April with training sessions for fire-fighting team leaders from Italy, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain,
ξ the five countries who sent aerial and ground fire-fighting resources to the exercise.
ξ This practical exercise takes place over three days in Olbia, Sardinia, where emergency response teams will tackle simulated fires.
ξ The MIC will be active in supporting coordination efforts both in the field and at headquarters.
ξ The exercise will end on 19 April with an aerial display.
ξ Observers from inside and outside the EU will be present.

ξ The exercise is being held within the framework of the "FIRE 5" project, previously known as "FIRE 4",
ξ but upgraded with the official entry of Greece in 2008.
ξ It is one of a number of pilot projects for which Community funding was made available in 2006
ξ to test ways of improving the provision of assistance across borders.
ξ The project is an example of how the resources of Member States could be used to respond to common emergencies.
ξ France, Italy (the organisers of this exercise), Portugal, Spain and Greece are participating fully in the project.
ξ Cyprus, Hungary, Czech Republic, Malta and Slovenia are associate members.
ξ The project was also put into operation last year,
ξ when assistance was channelled to Greece during the unusually fierce forest fire season.
ξ The European Commission is co-financing 80% of the costs of the project.

ξ This project is one of several exercises to be undertaken in the EU this year,
ξ with a view to shaping the EU civil protection of tomorrow,
ξ as was outlined in the Commission Communication on reinforcing the Union's disaster response capacity.

The Community Civil Protection Mechanism
ξ is intended to improve cooperation on civil protection assistance operations
ξ coordinates assistance, provides prompt support and assists any country inside or outside the European Union that needs help
ξ the main objective is to provide the best possible response and preparedness when a major emergency occurs
ξ these activities are coordinated by the Commission through its Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC),
ξ located in DG Environment's Civil Protection Unit
ξ thirty states participate in the Community Mechanism
ξ the resulting pool of resources can be made available to disaster-stricken countries all over the world
ξ Since the Mechanism became operational in 2002, it has been activated for a number of disasters around the world.
ξ These have included the 2004 tsunami in South East Asia,
ξ the 2005 forest fires in Portugal,
ξ flooding in Bulgaria and Romania,
ξ Hurricane Katrina in the US,
ξ the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 and
ξ the Lebanon crisis in 2006
ξ In 2007 the Mechanism was activated for floods in Bolivia, as well as for forest fires in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Albania and the former Republic of Macedonia.
ξ More recently the Mechanism was activated for oil spills in Ukraine and South Korea,
ξ an earthquake in Kyrgyzstan and floods in Bolivia and Ecuador.

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