Page 21 - Tallinna Ülikool

8.
Restoration of mires reduces the risk of fire
In order to prevent fires, mires should be restored in sites where management is completed in order to avoid the high costs of extinguishing them and to reduce the release of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Drained peat soils are highly ammable. Large-scale res in peatland forests on the island of Kalimantan in Indonesia in 2015 are known worldwide. Due to res, economy, rare species, habitats and human health were dam- aged. According to the UN, 100,000 people died as a result of the toxic gases from res. Closer to us in 2010 large-scale res occured in drained peatland forests in Russia around Moscow; the thick smog covered Moscow for weeks. To prevent further catastrophes, dams
were built on ditches in the peatlands around Moscow, and peatlands were again wet.
Forest res are quite frequent in dry summers in Estonia too, and three quarters of the forest res occur in forests planted in drained peat- lands. Dried peat surfaces can easily burn in dry weather. e spread of re is intense and the soil can burn at a depth of several meters, destroying the carbon stock accumulated over thousands of years.
Extinguishing peat re in forest planted on drained bog peat. Pärnu county, Lanksaare / M. Ollino TEN REASONS TO RESTORE ESTONIAN MIRES / 2019
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