Ministry of Environmental Protection urges the population to observe safety rules in the forest.

“The tourist season is in the active phase. August is a period of high fire risk due to the hot air temperatures.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture is urging the public to observe safety measures while in the forest. According to statistics, the leading cause of forest fires is human carelessness.

The National Forestry Agency annually places warning signs in fire-prone and heavily trafficked tourist areas throughout the country.

On the initiative of the National Forestry Agency, in the Gombori pass, in the vicinity of Shuamta, popular to the public people placed warning signs on the edges lane of the state forest and cleaned the territory.

The participants of the event urged the public to adhere to the rules and regulations in the designated picnic areas and when starting bonfires.

It is allowed to light a bonfire in the territory of the state forest in cases of preliminary arrangement of the place for lighting the fire. The prior arrangement of the fire pit involves cleaning easily flammable materials (hay, dry grass, leaves, wood) within a radius of 1.5 m from the hearth of the fire.

According to the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia, the violation of fire safety requirements in forests, which resulted in the occurrence of a fire in the forest or its spread over a certain area, as well as destruction or damage to the forest as a result of arson or negligent handling of fire, will lead to a fine of 300 to 500 GEL. If someone causes a forest fire due to negligence, they could face imprisonment for a period of four to eight years according to the law”, - reads the statement of the agency.