Disarmfire Interreg

The DISARM project aims to develop an integrated set of services to support prediction and promote prevention of drought and wildland fires. Bringing together Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus, the overall objective is to deliver an innovative, integrated observatory platform and a early warning system that will serve as a key tool for environmental protection, thus promoting sustainable development in the region.

Employing state-of-the-art approaches, DISARM will contribute to the prediction of drought and wildland fire risk in the Balkan-Med area, as well as to the assessment of the risks under a changing climate. A rapid-response system for the short-term prediction of wildland fire behavior will also be developed, while an observatory for near-real-time monitoring of wildland fire activity will be established. The system will be based on the use of high-resolution meteorological forecasts, forest-fire spread models, satellite data for fire detection and estimation of biomass, surface observations and monthly forecasting systems. In addition, DISARM will include a desktop and mobile application that will be used to disseminate project outputs, thus increasing public awareness of drought and wildland fire. This application will also provide users with a simple tool for reporting forest fires, as well as the presence of dead biomass, which is of great importance for the ignition of a fire.
Regional authorities could directly benefit from the DISARM system, in setting up / programming preparatory actions. Civil protection agencies and fire services will increase their capacity to combat forest fires by using the system. The general public and private sector stakeholders will benefit from DISARM through the use of the interactive mobile application. This approach provides citizens with useful information but also actively involved them in the process of information generation.

DISARM addresses the problem of providing accurate and timely observations and forecasts on drought and fire risk through a holistic and transnational approach. The interaction between the two hazards, coupled with the estimation of vulnerability for periods ranging from the present to the distant future, will provide a comprehensive prevention and mitigation framework. The transnational approach is necessary as it allows the exploitation of each partner's expertise and the sharing of available resources. Interaction with end-users / stakeholders across the Balkan-Med region will allow testing and evaluation of the system for different and different needs, which could not be achieved if each partner worked individually. Concluding, the added value of the project involves the creation of an integrated framework that goes beyond existing practices, uses smartly modern technologies and includes civil protection services and the general public in the acquisition and sharing of information.