"If a large-scale fire were to occur in the Trebjesa Forest Park in August, the consequences would be catastrophic - the flora and fauna, cultural heritage, the entire Trebjesa would disappear," said Goran Tripković from the Nikšić Protection and Rescue Service at a panel discussion on the topic "Management risks of disasters".
In order to prevent this from happening and, as he said, to give Trebjesa a chance to survive in the event of major fires, a Disaster Risk Assessment Plan was created, which is a very important document and emphasizes the Trebjesa Forest Park and fires.
"Trebjesa is almost forgotten by everyone, except for individuals who do their best to preserve it. It is increasingly threatened by fire, climate change, and unscrupulous individuals. We focused on what could happen if there was a big fire in the Trebjesi Forest Park and we came up with data that it and everything in it would disappear," said Tripković.
According to this scenario, a large fire would cover 75 percent of the Trebjesa forest park, lead to the loss of 15 lives, up to 450 citizens would be hospitalized, and up to 5000 of them would be evacuated, almost all sacred buildings, two economic entities would be damaged, and the damage would be slightly more than 87 million, of which almost 77 million would refer to environmental damage.
"In order not to allow that and to leave a preserved Trebjesa to our descendants, we have proposed measures that we must take so that, even if this unwanted effect occurs, we will give Trebjesa a chance to survive." Since the knowledge about fire protection is at a very low level, we believe that we should start with education, and that of elementary school students," said Tripković, presenting the Disaster Risk Assessment Plan.
The mentioned plan, which was prepared by the Center for Security, Sociological and Criminological Research of Montenegro "Defendologia", in cooperation with the Protection and Rescue Service, as well as with the Scout Company "Tibor" and the Tourist Organization Nikšić, includes fire protection measures, as well as future tourism valorization of Trebjesa.
"The fire protection plan includes the planning of preventive and biological-technical protection measures, the construction of mixed forests, the construction of fire roads, the detection of fires using sensors, the construction and maintenance of access roads, the cleaning and care of conifers, the provision of picnic areas, the supply of water for firefighting and the operational plan shutdown", said Tripković.
According to Jelena Milić, the director of the "Defendology" center, the mentioned plan was made as part of the project "Let's contribute to better recognition and management of disaster risks", and its presentation was scheduled for October 13, the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
"Fires in the Trebjesa forest park represent a big challenge. The results of this risk assessment offer us valuable insights and guidance on how we can better identify risks, develop plans to manage them and respond in emergency situations. They also enable us to create better policies and protection measures in order to reduce future risks and consequences of disasters," Milić said.
According to her, learning from the experiences of the fire in the Trebjesa Forest Park and applying the results of the plan are key steps in establishing a sustainable and safe environment for future generations.
"It has been proven that understanding and dealing with disaster risks is critical to keeping our city safe and prosperous. This document and the results of the risk assessment represent a huge step forward in ensuring better protection and preparation of our Nikšić Municipality for potential natural disasters. The municipality of Nikšić, which recognized the importance of this document and the work on it, is responsible for passing the decision on the formation of a working group and the appointment of additional members who participated in the preparation of this document, while the preparation of the document itself was led by the Protection and Rescue Service headed by Boško Roganović and his colleagues Goran Tripković and Tijana Rakočević", said Milić and thanked all members of the working group, as well as the panelists.
The President of the Nikšić Municipal Assembly, Nemanja Vuković, said that the Municipality, through its services and competent secretariats, was actively involved in the mentioned project, which only shows, as he pointed out, that the local administration supports everything that is "good, useful and benevolent and has for the purpose of fundamentally improving the quality of life of all citizens".
He praised the work of the "Defendology" center and pointed out that both the aforementioned and all NGOs will have a reliable partner in the local government in their joint effort to contribute to the improvement of the lives of all citizens.
"There is an intention to further valorize the Trebjesa forest park for tourism by building three sports and recreational trim tracks. The project is worth a little more than one million euros, and we submitted that project to the budget. I hope that this time we will have better luck and secure the necessary funds. We also have a project to arrange the area around the monument where new sports and recreation zones would be created," said Vuković.
Boro Vuković, from the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection, spoke about the protection status and natural basis of the Trebjesa Forest Park, Slavka Grgurević from TO Nikšić about the tourism valorization of Trebjesa, while Tatjana Bjeletić from the Secretariat for Culture, Sports, Youth and Social Welfare , presented the obligations and responsibilities of the Municipality regarding hazards.
The project "Let's contribute to better recognition and management of disaster risks" is financially supported through the program "SMART Balkans, civil society for a connected Western Balkans", which is implemented in cooperation with the Center for the Promotion of Civil Society, the Center for Research and Policy, and the Institute for Democracy and mediation, with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
Bonus video:
