Forest Fires

For a number of years forest fire-fighting was based on traditional or theoretical methods with poor results. There was a need for a revision of the methods used and exploration of alternative solutions.
The CypFire project aims to demonstrate that a band of horizontal cypress foliage can prevent, control and limit the damage caused by fires. 6 countries; Portugal, Spain, France, Greece and Malta have embarked on this ambitious project. Malta is represented by Mġarr local council. 

The project addresses four themes:

  • knowledge of the methods used in the fire control with comparative analysis and critique;
  • state of the art innovative technologies being implemented to replace the current ones that have provided poor results in spite of the considerable efforts and financial support;
  • management bands of cypress and studies on the effect on the morpho-physiological characteristics of cypress flammability, the reduction of wind speed on the progression of the fire and the composition of the litter on the trigger of the fire;
  • the most appropriate strategy for the dissemination of the results.