European project IPA Floods and Fires: conclusion of the exercise in North Macedonia
The final event is scheduled for May 28, 2024 in Brussels
The exercise held from March 19 to 21, 2024, in Skopje and the surrounding forest areas of the village of Kučkovo, in North Macedonia, wraps up the activities addressing the forest fire module of the European Project "EU Support to Flood Prevention and Forest Fires Risk Management in the Western Balkans and Turkey" - IPA FF. The project is funded by the European Commission (DG ECHO) and is part of the Instrument of Pre-Accession (IPA) programs designed to support candidate and potential candidate countries on their accession journey to the European Union.
In its role of lead partner, the Department of Civil Protection coordinates the activities of the Implementing Consortium formed by the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (URSZR), the Fire Rescue Brigade of Moravian Silesian Region (FRB-MSR), the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), the Romanian General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), the Romanian independent, non-governmental and not for profit NGO (CN APELL-RO), and the Italian CIMA Research Foundation.
The field exercise was the final stage in the ongoing process of developing and testing Ground Forest Firefighting (GFFF) civil protection modules. Units set up under the IPA FF project contributed to testing decision-making processes, the command and control chain, response operations, and interoperability.
The exercise scenario involved forest fires on the ground and engaged about 200 firefighters, modules from the seven Partner Countries, and one module from Slovenia.
All participants shared a base camp and performed activities to protect the population and safeguard the environment, private property, and cultural heritage. Over forty international experts nominated by the Consortium and the seven Partner Countries coordinated the exercise, hosted by the Protection and Rescue Directorate of North Macedonia.
The objective of IPA FF is to strengthen flood risk management by developing dedicated Management Plans and national, regional, and European forest fire risk prevention and preparedness in Western Balkans and Turkey territories subject to climate events of growing importance: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.
Furthermore, the project wishes to align the legal frameworks of the participating Countries with the civil protection standards of the European Union and test Early Warning Systems for flood risk by integrating them into national and local emergency plans.
The final event of the IPA FF project is scheduled for May 28, 2024, in Brussels https://www.ipaff.eu/.