A New Era in Forestry: Preventing Fires Instead of Extinguishing Them

As is the case globally, Turkey faces thousands of hectares of forest fires every year. Dr. Suat Keten emphasizes that an approach focused solely on extinguishing fires is insufficient and that a multi-faceted strategy including artificial intelligence and early warning systems is necessary. Keten stresses that the majority of forest fires are human-induced and therefore require technology-supported systems to predict risks in advance.

Today, we are obliged to change the answer to this question. Are we trying to extinguish the fire, or are we trying to prevent it from happening?

Dr. Keten highlights the critical importance of determining the causes of forest fires for prevention and thus advocates for enhancing technical and judicial investigation capabilities.

The fact that approximately 90% of forest fires in Turkey are related to human factors clearly reveals this reality.

Despite severe penalties for forest fires in Turkey, Keten notes that deterrence is not solely measured by the severity of the penalty but by the ability to detect and successfully prosecute crimes.

Real deterrence is not measured solely by the length of the sentence.

Keten underscores the importance of security and intelligence in fire management, pointing out that small fires starting in agricultural areas can quickly spread to forests. While acknowledging that climate change is not the sole cause of fires, Keten notes that increased temperatures, prolonged droughts, and low humidity can cause fires to spread more rapidly. Dr. Suat Keten predicts that future systems developed with artificial intelligence will be able to predict where fires will occur, in which direction they will spread, and which settlements they will threaten. Keten emphasizes the need for a scientific analysis of every forest fire, including the starting point, meteorological conditions, response time, equipment used, and the speed of fire spread. In addition to continuing to improve its air and land response capabilities, Turkey should also strengthen its mechanisms for preventing fires, including inspection mechanisms, technical investigation infrastructure, security coordination, and artificial intelligence-supported decision systems.