NATURE PROTECTION IS A SACRED DUTY OF EVERY CITIZEN

It is difficult to overestimate all the benefits of the forest for people's lives. Truly, this is a storeroom from which almost all sectors of the country's economy draw raw materials. It is a collector and keeper of moisture, a good regulator of surface water runoff, thanks to which the soil moisture reserve is replenished and rivers and fields are protected from shallowing from drought. The forest plays a huge role in the fight against soil erosion, dry winds and black storms.

These are the lungs of the earth, clean beneficial air – the forge of health, the basis of the green cover of the earth, the life-giving source for all living things. There is also coolness on hot days, silence for rest and protection from cold and blizzards in winter. Birds and animals live in the forest, mushrooms, berries, nuts, medicinal plants and many other useful things grow. But the forest has its worst enemy – fire. Due to natural conditions, fallen needles, cones, leaves, branches and dried grass accumulate in the forest for years, which in dry weather from early spring to late autumn can ignite from the slightest spark. For this reason, a campfire left by careless tourists, fishermen, berry pickers, mushrooms, or an abandoned unopened cigarette butt and a match, hunting wads of smoldering materials, burning of dry grass and stubble are the main causes of forest fires.

Windy weather increases the fire danger many times, contributing to the rapid spread of fire. Forest fires damage, and often completely destroy stands and all living things, thereby causing enormous damage to the economy and ecology. Fires disrupt the water regime in rivers and the climate, leaving behind burning and dead spaces for many years. That is why, being in the forest, we must not forget that careless handling of fire can lead to irreparable consequences – a natural disaster. Extinguishing forest fires is associated with large expenditures of public funds, interruptions from the work of people and mechanisms, often with a risk to life.

During the fire season, i.e. from the moment of snow cover in spring and until the onset of stable rainy weather in autumn, it is prohibited:

1. To make bonfires in coniferous young trees, old gorelnik, in cluttered areas of the forest, peat bogs, in cutting areas with left felling residues and harvested wood;

3. Make bonfires, throw burning matches, cigarette butts and shake burning ashes out of smoking pipes, use wads of smoldering materials (sticks, cotton wool, paper, etc.), burning dry grass in the forest in clearings, meadows and swamps;

4. Leave the cleaning material oiled or soaked in gasoline, kerosene or other combustible substances;

5. Refuel the tanks of internal combustion engines with fuel when the engine is running, use cars with a faulty power supply system, as well as smoke or use an open fire near cars filled with fuel.

You should always remember: "One tree can make a million matches, and one match can burn a million trees!"

Your active participation in the prevention of forest fires will help preserve the forest wealth of our country, which is a national treasure.