Summaries of Interview Transcripts

Transcript Summary for Maksimilijan Dhima 2

Transcript Summary for Andrea Papa 17

Transcript Summary for Ramiz Metaliaj 24

Transcript Summary for Shkelqim Goxhaj 32

Transcript Summary for Nensi Lalaj 36

Transcript Summary for Business Owner from Dajti National Park 44

Transcript Summary for Follow Up with Business Owner from Dajti National Park 46

Transcript Summary for Restaurant Employee from Ballkoni Dajtit at Dajti National Park 48

Transcript Summary for Follow Up with Restaurant Employee from Ballkoni Dajtit at Dajti National Park 50

Transcript Summary for Ranger from Dajti National Park 52

Transcript Summary for Resort Employee from Dajti National Park 54

Transcript Summary for Amparo Hiraldo 57

Transcript Summary for Edmond Pasho 62

Transcript Summary for Orjeta Jaupay 67

Transcript Summary for Maksimilijan Dhima

Where: Friend’s Book House, Rruga Sami Frashëri, Tirana

When: Thursday, Nov 7 2019 11:00am

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey, Andrew ● Note takers: Emily, Olivia

First Dhima gave us a presentation on the Albanian Civil Protection System, each organization’s responsibilities, and Law 45 on Civil Protection. We proceeded to ask the following questions:

Tallan: Are prefects and municipalities difference levels? Are municipalities the city government?

Dhima: 12 prefects each contain about 5 municipalities. Before 2014, they had a commune system and had about 280 of them. Now they combined to make 61 municipalities. Municipalities include some towns.

Tallan: Is 4% of the budget sizable enough to carry out what needs to be done?

Dhima: The 4% should be enough. There is room for investment at the central level. However, municipalities rely on 4% of the budget to ensure disaster risk reduction and civil protection, as well as other duties, and will have very little surplus. This is not 100% updated, and there is no official structure for the new systems. The 4% it’s logical for a time period, based on previous experience, and can be modified at any time.

Tallan: How should innovative projects find funding? Can the public sector partner with the private sector?

Dhima: Partnerships are an important framework for disasters. When civil emergency is declared, the private sector is obliged to support and spend. However a project such as this

may find PPPs to be ineffective. They are not so present in Albania so far. It’s a mentality, it’s quite difficult to find any similar project in history in the past. There needs to be incentives for private entities, such as tax exemptions or leases, because the technology will not create money by itself.

Tallan: How successfully will law 45 be implemented?

Dhima: From finance, starts everything. If we say we have a lack of technological or financial resources, everything starts from finance If they have finance, they have money to buy things like fire trucks, helicopters (Albania doesn’t have right now); they could even have money to buy drones. They don’t even have the necessary stuff for civil emergencies or protection or structure at the moment.

Tallan: Looking at the current situation, is public pushing for this change? Or is it the experts recommending that the government must change?

Dhima: It was experts. Many consecutive disasters - it became a need, experts were aware but a lot of finance necessary to deal with it. When a really bad earthquake in June (5.2 Richter, 5.8 in September, epicenter was nearby so a lot of damages) along with 2 mid-scale earthquakes hit, experts started pushing for a reform. The first versions of these laws were drafted in 2007 or so, it took 12 years to convince politicians essentially. The US report in 2014 helped a lot: Albania needed more international organization opinions to really sway it. Progress reports mentioned strategies and capacities that the government incorporated into Law 45.

Tallan: Are you still involved with civil emergency government?

Dhima: I had to retire. I was constantly working overtime due to understaffing. 4 people worked in shifts at a time, 8 people in total. (with people from the centers). There should’ve been 134 people employed. I would work 70-80 hours every week. I had to leave because I was spending all this time. I still serve as an expert, following closely on disasters and preparing reports.

Tallan: What is the problem finding staff?

Dhima: It is very hard to find 150+ people with high education and doctorates without a civil protection school in Albania.

Tallan: Do you know about specific regions in Albania under risk for fires?

Dhima: Risk maps do not exist for fire. There are earthquake risk maps from 1989-, but not with intensities. Hazard maps exist for fire, but only 250 km from an area.

Tallan: Where is disaster data located? Is it accessible to anyone?

Dhima: DesInventar - can probably get good research on disasters this way, a lot of data. There are some graphs, calculations of damages, people hurt, agriculture to be measured. When sending letters to institution to ask for data, some of them are skeptical and felt like they are being personally attacked like Communist times.

Tallan: Do you see fires getting worse with things like climate change and people burning the forests to develop more infrastructure?

Dhima: As far as I am aware, a majority of forest fires are man made. However, climate change has worsened the situation of disasters as a whole. There is a need to invest more in a proactive direction and raise public awareness, it is very necessary to have the people prepare for these fires.

Tallan: Can we find reports on how expensive individual fires are?

Dhima: It is not easy to find the costs estimates, although the General Directorate may have it. There exists some reports and figures, but not all figures. I can send EU/UN report of 2015 which is about disaster records.

Tallan: WUIs - where the forests and urban cities intersect - do we know if they are increasing in size and how fire management is handled in those cases?

Dhima: Forest fires are normally isolated, occurring deep in the other forests in the mountains. However, there were huge forest fires in the past year. Small ones are normally under control and property is protected

Tallan: When structuring prefects and municipalities, who has jurisdiction over forests that are not underneath municipalities? Are there gaps?

Dhima: There are some forests that protection agency has percentage of- They have a website which shows their percentage. The rest is under the municipalities, as they own the forests. Additionally, there are also small forests belonging to private persons. Prefect is always there, somehow organizing and coordinating all the municipalities. Prefects are nominated by the government, not elected.

Tallan: How do you see drone programs being put into the emergency management plan? Monitoring or prevention?

Dhima: Areas which are unreachable, especially with no helicopter would be the most likely application. It would be worth exploring if they can do other firefighting things One limitation is that they cannot cover huge areas. Sometimes helicopters are unavailable because their prime mission is defense, not suppression of forest fires. I am not convinced if the funding is there at the moment. If it was to be funded and implemented, it would be the first of its kind

Tallan: Are there any legal restrictions for using drones?

Dhima: Not as far as I know, but perhaps there are some for security reasons though.

Follow up Questions by Email

1. How do firefighters bring water to fire fires in remote areas within forests? Are they transported on a truck, pumped from lake, etc?

Dhima: In remote areas, firefighters have their main water quantity inside their firefighting vehicle. When they have at their disposal specific vehicles/water tanks, they transport additional water quantity on a track. Furthermore, where possible they pump additional water from lakes, streams or rivers.

2. In terms of compensation for damages from disasters, how much do municipalities pay vs. the Council of Ministers? How is this difference in compensation affected by the size and ownership of the damaged land and infrastructure?

Dhima: Pursuant to the Council of Minister Decision No.329, dated 16.05.2012 there are two general scenarios for the compensation of private subjects damaged from the disasters:

a. When the state of “natural disaster is declared”. In this case all the private subjects are compensated with 100% of their respective damages. b. When the state of “natural disaster is not declared”. In this case there are only families with damaged dwellings which are compensated with 50% of their damages.

Dhima: As for the land damages, pursuant to the above CMD, farmers are compensated only when the state of “natural disaster is declared” with 100% of their damages. In this case a specific form for the damage evidencing is prepared. Unit prices used are those referring to the Ministry of Agriculture. Damage calculation is prepared by a commission led by the Ministry of Agriculture experts. In the past, losses for uncollected production of agricultural plants/crops have also been included in the total compensation value. There have also been exceptions to the general compensation policy after the floods of 2015 in South Albania. Even though the state of natural disaster was not declared at that time, an EU financial assistance through IPA funds was provided to the farmers with agricultural damages.

As for the private infrastructure damages, they are treated equally with the farmers, namely only when the state of “natural disaster is declared”. In this case the working group/commission for calculating the damages in infrastructure is normally led by the respective line ministry. A different form for damages for the damage evidencing is used in this case and unit prices are those provided by the line ministry.

For the state infrastructure damages, will be the Council of Ministers budget or line ministry budget which will be used for their rehabilitation. For the municipality infrastructure damages

will be the Council of Ministers budget or municipality budget to be used for their rehabilitation. Given the above, the difference in compensation is not affected by the size and ownership of the damaged land and infrastructure.

In general, there are three financial sources for the indemnity of families with houses damaged by the disasters. State budget, General Directorate of Civil Emergency and Municipality budget.

3. Can you clarify the differences in roles and responsibilities between the Ministry of Defense and the National Civil Protection Agency? Is the difference clear and organized?

Dhima: NCPA is imbedded in the Ministry of Defense subordinate to the minister. NCPA shall exercise, steering, technical, supervisory and controlling authority in the field of disaster risk reduction and civil protection. The Minister is responsible for defining the strategic directions and objectives of the National Civil Protection Agency.

The respective competences and responsibilities are well defined in the Law No.45, dated 18.07.2019. Namely the responsibilities of the Minister responsible for civil protection are defined in the article 13, while the responsibilities of NCPA and its General Director are defined in the articles 23 and 24.

4. Is the National Civil Protection Agency in the process of being restructured?

Dhima: Pursuant to the article 73 of the Law no.45, dated 18.07.2019 the General Civil Emergencies Directorate shall be reorganized into the National Civil Protection Agency upon entry into effect of this law which is 16.08.2019. Also, referring to the paragraph 2 of the same article:

The General Civil Emergencies Directorate shall continue to operate, based on the existing structure, until the approval of the National Civil Protection Agency organization and

functioning, as provided for in this Law and the approval of the structure and organization, in accordance with the applicable legislation.

At the same time we should take into account the definitions of the article 23, paragraphs 7, 8 and 9, of the Law as follows:

The organization and functioning of the NCPA, as well as its other duties, shall be set forth by a decision of the Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the minister. The NCPA structure and staffing at the central and local level are approved by an order of the Prime Minister, upon proposal of the minister. The Regulation on the internal NCPA staff operations and conduct at the central and local level shall be adopted by the minister, upon the proposal of the NCPA General Director.

Given the above NCPA is impossible to start its functioning without having in place the respective CMD, Prime Minister Order and the respective regulation.

5. What does DRR stand for on Slide 10 of the powerpoint presentation?

Dhima: DRR in the slide 10 is the abbreviation of Disaster Risk Reduction

6. Could you go into more detail about the enterprises (20+ people) within the National Civil Protection Agency? What do they do? How were they formed?

Dhima: The enterprises (20+ people) are not within NCPA. They are just private subjects which have higher responsibilities in civil protection, compared the other private subjects/employers. This figure has been suggested as a threshold from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and it is based on the article 8, paragraph “e” of the Law No.10237 dated 18.02.2010, amended.

7. Is Law 45 on Civil Protection currently a work in progress or is it already approved and implemented?

Dhima: The Law itself has been approved by the Albanian Parliament on July 18th 2019. It was promulgated by decree no. 11241, dated 30.7.2019 of the President of the Republic of Albania, Ilir Meta. It was published in Official Journal No.113, Page: 8467, date 1.08.2019. Therefore the Law is in force 15 days after its publication, namely from August 16th 2019.

In order this Law to become fully applicable, a series of sub-legal act should be approved pursuant to the definitions of Article 72 Sub-legal acts development.

Again, referring the the paragraph 2 of article 73, Sub-legal acts issued pursuant to Law No. 8756, dated 26.03.2001, “On Civil Emergencies”, as amended, shall apply as long as they do not contradict this Law and shall be repealed by the promulgation of the sub-legal acts under this law.

8. What government groups still need to approve the new 4% budgetary provision for civil emergencies? What are the steps to its implementation? Do you believe it will be successfully implemented by January 1st, 2020?

Dhima: Conditional transfer of 4% of the respective budget would be proposed by the Ministry of Finance to the Prime Minister and afterwards to be approved by the Albanian Parliament.

Pursuant to the article 75 this law shall enter into effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and shall extend its financial effects as of 1.1.2020. This means that the above mentioned 4% budget should be foreseen for the next fiscal year. I don’t know whether it will be implemented from January 1st but I am sure that in the opposite case it would be another unnecessary delay for the whole civil protection system

9. How are areas at risk of fires identified? Is satellite monitoring used for this purpose? Does the Civil Protection Agency refer to risk maps and daily fire risk bulletins provided by the Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment?

Dhima: General Directorate of Civil Emergency itself doesn’t use satellite monitoring. Is the Institute of Geosciences, Energy, Water and Environment under the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth which uses them along with other platforms necessary to prepare the daily bulletin.

General Directorate of Civil Emergency refer to daily fire risk bulletins provided by the Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment. Unfortunately, for the time being, there are no fire risk maps.

Scenario Questions

1. The area near the cable car in Dajti Mountain National Park in Tirana is an example a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). a. Who monitors the forest to detect fires in high risk areas?

Dhima: Monitoring is a task of the Municipality in which is embedded also the respective Fire Fighting Service. In case the area is part of the “Protected areas” then there are also forest guards from this agency. b. Are risk maps and meteorological data used to predict the occurrence of fires?

Dhima: Unfortunately, forest fires/wild fires/open fires risk maps are not in place for the time being in Albania. It is an obligation for the central, prefecture and municipality level according to the Law 45/2019 “On civil protection”. Meteorological data are produced by the Institute of Geoscience, Energy, Water and Environment through the daily bulletin. Once released/published this bulletin is sent every day to all the ministries, prefectures and

municipalities. On other daily meteorological bulletin is produced by the Military Meteorological Service and is also sent to all the ministries, prefectures and municipalities. Once a fire is detected, is an obligation for all the citizens and the private and state organizations to inform the National Operational Center of Civil Emergency in the General Directorate of Civil Emergency which continue with the standard procedures according to the National Plan of Civil Emergency.

c. When a fire is detected, who is called to extinguish it and what methods are used?

Dhima: Extinguishing the fires, first responsible are the Municipality fire fighting forces,

d. Are fuel breaks and selective burning used as preventative methods to contain fires from spreading?

Dhima: This seems to be very specific/technical question for me. Probably the fire fighting structures are more competent to respond on this question.

e. What agency is responsible for recording the damage and compensating those with property damage?

Dhima: According to the subparagraph “e” of paragraph 2 of article 22 of the law 45/2015, Ministries and central institutions shall conduct an assessment of disaster losses, within their area of responsibility. According to the subparagraph “ç” of the same paragraph, ministries should also conduct within 2 years from entry into effect of this Law, establishing a disaster losses database in their area of responsibility.

Pursuant to paragraph “gj” of article 30 of the Law, each municipality is responsible for carrying out assessment of damages caused by disasters in their territory, needs assessments, and

compensating citizens for disasters occurring in their territory;Again according to paragraph “ë” of the same article, each municipality is responsible for developing a disaster losses database for the territory of the municipality….. in case the state of “natural disaster” will be declared, as usual will be approved a specific CMD which will assign the responsibilities also for the evaluation of the damages.

With regard to compensation, please refer to the response given to question 2 above. Please be aware also that according to paragraph 4 of article 41 of Law 45/2019, up to the threshold of 8% of the municipality budget, will be the municipality itself to borne this financial budget. If the amount of compensation shall exceed 8% of the municipal budget, the CPC shall decide that the compensation shall be carried out by the NCPA.

2. A remote village is surrounded by forest. There is no organized fire department in the area, and the village is hours away from other villages or cities. a. Who monitors the forest to detect fires in high risk areas near the village?

Dhima: Concerning the monitoring responsibility please refer to the response of the question 1 above. If there is no fire department organized in the area, will be the fire department forces from the neighboring municipality to intervene after an approval from the General Director of Fire Fighting and Rescue Directorate pursuant to paragraph “ç” of article 10 of the Law “On fire fighting and rescue service”.

b. How are high risk areas identified?

Dhima: Risk areas are defined based on the existing Risk Assessment document of 2003 but also referring to the experience, namely the forest fires during these years.

c. Do they have any equipment to aid them such as sensors or thermal cameras, and are there procedures that they follow?

Dhima: As far as I am informed there are no thermal cameras installed in the forests.

d. When a fire is detected, who is called to extinguish it and how quickly can they respond to the situation?

Dhima: Extinguishing the fires, first responsible are the Municipality fire fighting forces. Reaction speed will be depending on the fire location. In case the fire is in very remote areas and with no access for fire fighting vehicles the army forces would be mobilized. If it is needed, the helicopters also would be mobilized as well as international assistance would be requested in case of major forest fires. All these decisions about the mobilization of the central level capacities will follow the definitions of the article 7 of the Law 45/2019 “Principle of subsidiarity”

e. Are fuel breaks and selective burning used as preventative methods to contain fires from spreading?

Dhima: Please refer to the same response above.

f. What extinguishing methods are used? What agency is responsible for recording the damage statistics?

Dhima: The extinguishing methods used will largely depend from the terrain accessibility. If there are roads then the fire fighting vehicles will be used. If no, then the fire terrestrial fire fighting forces will be used. Volunteers and the army will also be used if necessary. Aeraial means (helicopters will be used if this will be considered necessary). International assistance

will be requested through European Emergency Response Capacity with the activation of Union Civil Protection Mechanism and in parallel the request will be addressed to NATO for assistance.

g. Are residents and business owners compensated for property damage, and if so where does the money come from?

Dhima: This question is answered above. For the residents there is 50% compensation for the building construction damages when the “natural disaster” is not declared and 100% when it is declared. Businesses are compensated only when the “natural disaster” is declared and the percentage would be 100% according to the respective procedures defined in the case by case CMD.

3. A mountainous national park has very little human activity nearby besides hiking and a few small businesses. There are no properly maintained roads or other infrastructure. The summer season has been especially dry, and there has been no rainfall for the last three weeks. The temperature has been approximately 30°C and moderate winds are blowing up the slope westwards. a. What organization employs the rangers that monitor the forest?

Dhima: No Answer

b. How is this meteorological data used to inform prevention and monitoring practices?

Dhima: Referring to the weather conditions of this scenario, it doesn’t seem to be the worst one. Nevertheless, in order to take the necessary prevention measures, when necessary, the forecasting bulletin from IGEWE is used.

c. How quickly are fires detected in the forest, and how quickly can a response be organized?

Dhima: The velocity of the fire detection depends varies from case to case. It depends on the fire location and the location of the fire guards. The response also is depending on a series of conditions, the preparedness measures included.

d. What procedures and equipment do they use to monitor the forest? Are fuel breaks and selective burning used as preventative methods to contain fires from spreading?

Dhima: Please refer to the responses above.

e. How does the fire department bring manpower and equipment to extinguish the flames?

Dhima: The manpower and equipment are transported by vehicles. I case there is inaccessible terrain backpack extinguishers are used.

f. How do they bring sufficient water?

Dhima: In remote areas, firefighters have their main water quantity inside their firefighting vehicle. When they have at their disposal specific vehicles/water tanks, they transport additional water quantity on a track. Furthermore, where possible they pomp additional water from lakes, streams or rivers.

g. What agency is responsible for recording the damage the fires incur?

Dhima: Concerning the fire damages, please refer to the answers above. When the forest is municipality/private property, the evaluation of the damages is municipality responsibility. When the forest is under other institution property such as Agency of Protected Areas, this or the respective ministry will be responsible pursuant to the definitions of the paragraph “e” of article 22 of Law 45/2019.

Follow up Questions 2:

1. Given the three possible uses for drone use for forest fires- monitoring (during and after fire), prevention (prescribed burning), or extinguishing- which method do you think is the: a. Most useful Dhima: Extinguishing b. Most realistic Dhima: Monitoring (during and after fire) c. Has the most potential Dhima: Monitoring (during and after)

Transcript Summary for Andrea Papa

Where: Friend’s Book House, Rruga Sami Frashëri, Tirana

When: Tuesday, Nov 12 2019 2:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewer: Emily ● Note taker: Olivia

Osterloh: Why did EXINN start their Unified Fire Protection Units and System Project?

Papa: EXINN is focused on innovation, creativity, intellectual property, problem-solving, and bringing in new solutions. Last year, there was a Climate Windows competition that we participated in, and for the last couple of years, I had been thinking of ways to solve the fire problem in Albania. I came up with the idea for a system with drones and a thermal camera with AI communication between the two, and entered it into the contest.

Osterloh: What led to this solution of using thermal cameras and drones?

Papa: Technology has grown in many directions. Innovation today is different from earlier innovation, it changes day by day. My concern was how we could design a system that could survive and adapt every year. The core of this system is AI, which can adapt to any hardware; just how a human brain tells your fingers to do things, so does the AI with the drone. We wanted a long-term solution to the fire problem.

Osterloh: Are there similar projects that EXINN’s project was inspired by?

Papa: In 2001, you may remember that the Twin Towers collapsed. A year or two later, I helped develop a new airplane with capsules. They are Boeings that open with parachutes, and I came up with the design. Although this does not relate to fire, it did relate to AI. It can give the

advantage to solve the problem that had happened with the Twin Towers all those years ago. It was easy for me to catch this idea and adapt it to the fire issue.

Osterloh: Has EXINN worked on any projects related to forest fires or drones before?

Papa: Last year, I had made a drone, and we conducted manual tests where we told the drone to go to a man-made fire and drop balls. It had worked, but we need to get the AI on board now. We also need a thermal camera, which is at least 50,000 euros, plus access to areas for testing and tools. But the prototype is functional and the concept works.

We need to consider a lot of factors in the design - this solution is not just for parks and forests, it’s for everything. We also need to consider cost management Plan B if this drone burns. We had considered a satellite, but the data was not as accurate and it was more costly to use. The battery of the drone has presented an issue as well, because the drone can survive about a 30 minute to 1 hour flight and then needs to recharge. It is much easier for us to have small projects for each area, because then cities can use them as well. The drone is not very expensive, it is around $500.

Osterloh: Can you briefly describe the goal of the project?

Papa: The end goal can be found in the links Endri is sending you. However are goal is to make a project that is easy to manage that will be productive, efficient, and enable others to participate in more activities where fires are common.

Osterloh: What areas of Albania experience the most fires?

Papa: There are more fires in the south, where it is warmer.

Osterloh: What areas of Albania would benefit most from using drones for this?

Papa: If you calculate the cost for each area in Albania, you need people and fire trucks that go up areas such as mountains to get to fires - but we have none of that. Even for airplanes, it takes 1-2 hours to get there, and the fire is out of control by this point. We want to destroy the

fire while it is tiny to avoid this issue. The thermal camera can see fires occurring in real time, and they then send the drones off.

Osterloh: What are the predicted changes in frequency, intensity and damages of fires in the near future?

Papa: We knew the fires were just getting worse, so the first thing we thought of when we designed the system was, “How are we going to deal with this?” It is much easier to adapt for thematic changes with the future. Osterloh: What is the estimated savings for using this technology as opposed to just traditional firefighting strategies to prevent forest fires from escalating into large wildfires?

Papa: If you install EXINN’s system, you do not need humans in the forest to monitor fires anymore. If someone is managing the area, they may not be able to be there 24/7. They need to sleep, they can’t do it all. But the camera can. Using EXINN’s drone will be 70% cheaper than the current methods used. We have a 150 kilometer-squared area that the drone will be used in; we then have a camera, which costs around 100,000 euros because we would like a newer one; the best drone model for us to use costs around 1,000 euros; and the house to hold the drones would be 50,000 euros for 10 drones. With our testing area of 150 kilometers squared, the total comes to around 150,000-200,000 euros. This investment would be for the next 10 years, with no extra money needing to be spent if the system works well. These are operational costs, with no additional costs needed.

Osterloh: Are Public Private Partnerships feasible for implementing the project? Have they been successful in Albania? How does EXINN view collaborating with a PPP for implementing this project?

Papa: To be honest, I had discussed PPPs with your advisers. The drone was not my first invention and I have a big portfolio, but I was disappointed in the lack of interest for the drone. The link between innovators, politicians, and the institution has been a problem. The government does not support innovation because they do not understand it. Politicians go for tangible things, but innovation goes for intangible. Because politicians cannot explain what they

do not understand, they just cut it in the budgets. If you are lucky, you may find a smart person who will support you. However, the public sector is full of stupid people. I am sorry, but it is the truth. There is also high corruption in the government - the public administration is more focused on projects for how they can steal money. Occurrences like these are causing the problem, so a PPP is not very feasible in Albania. I have seen how it is different around the world and how it works elsewhere, but maybe it is just the mindset and location of Albania that affects it. I hope that your generation is different and will be more open-minded with regards to technology and innovation.

Osterloh: Are there any special motivations or incentives you’ve taken into account when planning how to gain consumer interest? If you could ideally get someone to buy the drone, who would it be?

Papa: Definitely someone in the public sector. It would not go to the consumer. Usually the government has responsibility for the forests. I believe that to push this forward, we need to go to a university, work with a company like our own, and even get some municipalities or people in charge of the forest, so we can get support and research and adapt the drone. Ideally, the university and EXINN could see together how a plan such as ours could work. From there, we could spread this pilot project around the world.

Osterloh: Did you talk to people then change the system idea to get people on board?

Papa: We had tried to collaborate in the past, but I am busy because I am the owner of the company and have many projects. Time is everything and I do not have the luxury to focus on only the project, which is why I am trying to get others to collaborate on the project with us. I believe my part of the project, the design is finished, and I have brought the ideas and momentum needed to set the stage. Now it is time to take the next step, and since it is a pilot project, it should be easier to start bringing other people in.

Osterloh: What functionalities would the ideal drone have? Are there any specific models being considered?

Papa: When we have the right experience, we can design things properly. Humans usually start from complex concepts, but the best concepts are the most simple. In the beginning, we had a lot in our design, so I was a bit lost. But after a while, I decided that simple worked best for a drone model. Drones also change every day with respect to models; the newest model today may not exist after a year. We are full of choices, so we do not need to rush on the decision for which drone model will work best.

Osterloh: How does EXINN’s fire prevention system work?

Papa: We start off with a camera on top of a 50 meter pole. It senses around the forest from top, and at the bottom is a port for 10 drones that can travel 150 km. We use wind, solar, and other forms of alternative energy to power the drones, since the drones themselves do not require a lot of energy. Inside the port is a box with fire-extinguishing balls; when the drone returns to the port, it can find its spot where it charges and pick up another ball. The drone can hold multiple balls at once and each drone has its own software. There is a link between the drone and thermal camera via smart devices. The camera has a map of up to 150 kilometers, and the program gives drones orders when the camera finds fire. The drone receives the communication, goes to the fire, drops a ball, and then comes back to the port. Since the drone cannot sleep for a year, it can do other things, such as measure the forest temperature, find places in need of replanting, observe the forest’s condition and climatic changes, and even pick up trash. It earns its keep, though its first concern is the fire, since the fire destroys and kills things.

Osterloh: What is the farthest travel distance of the drones? Papa: The drones can travel 6 kilometers.

Osterloh: Have you determined what type of thermal camera you would use?

Papa: The thermal camera also has many choices, and we prefer the latest or best quality.

Osterloh: Is the system centralized or decentralized?

Papa: The system can be independent, and it is central at the national and global level.

Osterloh: How does the camera communicate with the drones (ie- WiFi, Bluetooth, smart device, etc)?

Papa: It is easy to network a system; everyone drone listens to one thing. The camera can communicate in many ways, via Bluetooth, Wifi, and more.

Osterloh: How is it impacted by weather, foliage and altitude?

Papa: Elevation and weather do not affect the drones, nor does the foliage. Wind may have an impact because it could blow the drone around.

Osterloh: What sort of security will the drone station have?

Papa: The system has cameras so it will see anybody trying to mess with the drone. We can also have a guard drone. Security is the government’s responsibility.

Osterloh: What are some potential limitations of using the new technology/drones?

Papa: I do not foresee any limitations from using the drone. We just n

Osterloh: Are there any limitations related to materials or algorithms?

Papa: No, we just need some good CS workers and we will be set.

Osterloh: What concerns do people have about using drones for this purpose?

Papa: Common people do not really get to interact with the drone, so there have been no concerns.

Osterloh: What has been done and what still needs to be done in the project?

Papa: We have a proof of concept, and what we need is to involve the university, EXINN, and the public sector so we can gain enough funding to perform our first pilot test.

Osterloh: How has the project changed over time as EXINN has progressed on it?

Papa: There have been no dramatic changes to how I have thought about the project. The core has always been AI.

Osterloh: What information needs to be collected to monitor and prevent fires, in addition to location? How would the drones fit into current fire monitoring and prevention strategies?

Papa: The drones and the camera needs info. The drone executes while the camera tells. I have thought about what the cameras and drones look at before. The drones can fly to the top of the forest to see above the trees where a fire might be, instead of going directly through the trees.

Osterloh: At what point are other firefighting techniques required to help fight a forest fire? Could EXINN’s system initially start on its own, or would it need to be integrated with other firefighting techniques at first?

Papa: The changes between the systems of firefighting have been big. Common people would easily be wowed by it, but innovators would just want to take the next step. Drones can do everything; they don’t need help at any stage.

Osterloh: What kind of training and maintenance is required for operating this system?

Papa: The system would need some training and maintenance, just to ensure that the drone does not break or is made worse if it does break. But the drones are not too hard to take care of. In the next five years, we are hoping we can make the drone can fix itself should a break occur.

Osterloh: How does EXINN take into consideration the needs of rural communities that would be affected by their project?

Papa: Rural communities would not be affected negatively when it comes to tourism. The system would help make the forests safe.

Transcript Summary for Ramiz Metaliaj

Where: Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana

When: Wednesday, Nov 13 2019 11:00am

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey, Andrew ● Note takers: Emily, Olivia

Tallan: Do you have any maps showing where fires are most common?

Metaliaj: We don’t yet have a map for that. Structures of forestry have changed a bit recently, and there have been problems gathering data. Before the Directory of Forestry, there was some data, but it does not exist anymore.

With the new structure, no data was passed onto anyone, and this was data before the year 2000. Municipalities are responsible for it, and the Office of Forestry Service in municipalities is not well-structured. There has been collaboration with municipalities and the0 Civil Emergency Agency, with the initial level being the latter. Each municipality has a Civil Emergency Agency that deals with prevention and management of fires, as well as natural disasters. There is no specific service for forest fire protection yet, only in urban areas, nothing in rural areas.

There are no roads or infrastructure in these rural areas. In urban areas, there are missing water sources which makes response more difficult. We usually ask other countries for help with equipment, as we cannot manage the structure and it requires a lot of investments. From 2007 to 2008, there was an idea for a common Balkan center for operations and equipment such as planes and helicopters. In rural areas, you can only see fires with your own eyes. There is no technology.

15 May to 15 October is the most dangerous fire period. During this time, the municipalities require extra stuff to help them. The government has not paid too much attention to the issue up to the point, and gets scared only when the fire is there.

Tallan: Have people paid more attention due to the large fires happening in the 2000s that you had mentioned, like in 2007 and 2011?

Metaliaj: Not much has changed. Before we had a Ministry of Environment, Forest & Water which took care of forest fire protection and had data and protection for preventing fires. It had a small structure too. The Ministry is now Tourism and Environment now, so the name of forestry is gone and its small structure too. Civil Emergency Agency and Forestry Service in Municipalities now have the responsibilities that the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Water used to have.

4 years ago, we had a project in this field, with a plan to install visual and thermal cameras for night and day, 24 hour surveillance. For bureaucratic reasons, the project was not implemented, even though we had received funding of 150,000 euros from the EU. The bureaucratic issues related to the ministry of integration. This was one of the first steps of the country to be preventative, and it covered major cities like Durres, Tirana, and Elbasan.

Tallan: What can you say about the restructuring of the government? [We showed them the diagram Maksi showed us.]

Metaliaj: The Ministry of the Interior has input on civil emergency/municipality structures. The Ministry of Defense gives them the money and plans that the municipality can then implement.

Tallan: Are there areas that are not covered by the municipalities?

Metaliaj: Everything is covered.

Tallan: Rangers monitor and protect the forests. Are there enough rangers in the forest?

Metaliaj: There are enough. There’s usually one ranger for 10,000 hectares, but it depends on the shape of the environment. If it is curvy, there is usually a ranger for every 5,000 hectares instead.

Tallan: The project we are working on looks at drones and involves a large thermal camera. The camera communicates with drones to extinguish fires before they grow. It is a preventative measure. Thoughts?

Metaliaj: I have actually done a project that was implemented that was similar. We’d put 360 degree view cameras at four points that could measure an 8 kilometer distance. Some small equipment was even used to detect the smoke, and there was a main server where there is a zoom so you can see things from different areas - this was for the prevention part.

If the fire is there, we need big investments, especially roads and funds to maintain those roads. We also need funds to maintain water collection areas, especially in very dry areas. The first steps to deal with fires need to be adjusted, if we expect the government to invest in it.

There has also been a phenomenon recently, where people in forestry areas emigrated and left the areas. This is positive because there are no more issues of cutting trees down, but it is negative because when there is no people, it is harder to find fires and warn about them. This is a big problem that the municipality has been taking care of.

Investing of competencies in the local level is a good step or solution. Building is not yet at the required level, and both the lack of education and funds have contributed to this.

Tallan: There is a gap with the firefighting practices and in areas that have no infrastructure, so could drones fill the gap because they do not require road use?

Metaliaj: They are the only solution for protection and surveillance, but if the fire is there, we still need roads. There is a civil emergency hotline (812) even in the city, but it always depends whether the response is central or local.

Tallan: The drone would extinguish fires too. What are your thoughts?

Metaliaj: That would be a great idea. If you take measures in the first moment, there is no response time between firefighters assisting and the drone itself.

Tallan: Since you mentioned emigration away from the forest, we thought about Wildland Urban Interfaces, where there was an intersection between forests and urban areas. It might be that private businesses have a very high risk of forest fires affecting them. Would you say development is getting closer to the forests?

Metaliaj: People establish business in protected areas. They are allowed to build temporary buildings (like small buildings) and usually the buildings take into account the prevention of fires itself. We have not experienced cases of fires because of business activities, though fires may have occurred due to legislative conflicts, such as problems with ownership and problems with illegal use of land.

Tallan: Does anyone burn the forest intentionally?

Metaliaj: When people have problems with ownership, they set fires. People often cut areas and then set it on fire to hide their actions, though it doesn’t hide them very well.

Tallan: What are the main causes of forest fires in Albania besides intentional setting?

Metaliaj: Mostly carelessness or human causes. Shepherds may accidentally set one for example. Other cases are for burning agricultural lands to clear so fire grows to the forest. This is commonly in the south of Albania.

Tallan: With the public sector (Government responsible for protection and prevention), has the private sector considered investing into fire prevention?

Metaliaj: Mostly businesses that were discussed before, but primarily private businesses.

Tallan: Are forest fires predicted to get worse in Albania due to climate change?

Metaliaj: Albania has mostly inherited degradable forests, and has had natural forestry since years ago, but nobody is taking care of the natural areas, so there is a high content of dry parts, which is one reason why the fire is so big. Regarding climate, dry periods have occurred and

fires have happened where there was not fire before. There is a type of wood, Fagus sylvatica L., that is more protected from the fire than other types of wood, but still has had fires.

Tallan: Do you have statistics for damages and cost of forest fires for municipalities?

Metaliaj: They do not usually keep calculations on costs of damages. They only keep track of the value of wood that is burned sometimes, not even ecological effects, costs, or operations. Usually they report the area in hectares that is burned and that is all. After the 1990s, there were no records kept. It is a little difficult because we are dealing with institutions. In 2007 though, the biggest damage hit forests in the from a fire, burning 10,000 hectares. In 2010, 8,000 hectares burned. In other years, not so big surfaces burned but we have had hot spots with intense fires.

Follow up Questions by Emai:

1. Given the three possible uses for drone use for forest fires- monitoring (during and after fire), prevention (prescribed burning), or extinguishing- which method do you think is the:

● Most effective ● Safest ● Most realistic ● Has the most potential

Metaliaj: Drones can act after a signal has been given to start a fire. This signal is delivered by a system of cameras that monitor and monitor the terrain 24 hours. They go directly over the hearth of the fire and extinguish it. Other roles are not realistic and safe for drones.

2. Given the three possible uses for drone use for forest fires- monitoring (during and after fire), prevention (prescribed burning), or extinguishing- which method do you think is the:

● Most useful

● Most realistic ● Has the most potential

Metaliaj: Same as above.

3. Another solution for fire prevention is the use of multiple sensors that are connected on the same network and spread throughout forests to measure meteorological data like temperature and humidity. How do you think this type of monitoring compares to using drones for monitoring in terms of:

● Most useful ● Most realistic ● Has the most potential

Metaliaj: This type of system will be more realistic.

4. Another solution would be using drones for extinguishing and sensors for monitoring in combination. How do you think this compares to using drones alone or sensors alone in terms of:

● Most useful ● Most realistic ● Has the most potential

Metaliaj: This is both more useful and more realistic.

5. How are areas at risk of fires identified?

a. How is satellite monitoring used for this purpose? How is GIS used in general for fire monitoring and prevention?

Metaliaj: Satellite imagery and GIS monitoring is used only for burnt areas a year or so ago, to monitor burnt surface and forest reforestation rates.

b. Do you refer to risk maps and daily fire risk bulletins provided by the Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment? Do government agencies or firefighters refer to these bulletins?

Metaliaj: Of course, yes. From there the metrological data that constitute the database in the compilation of the risk map are obtained.

Scenario Questions:

1. The area near the cable car in Dajti Mountain National Park in Tirana is an example a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). a. Who employees the rangers that monitor this area?

Metaliaj: The rangers are employed by the Agency of Protected Areas.

b. Are fuel breaks and selective burning used as preventative methods to contain fires from spreading?

Metaliaj: Yes these methods are used widely and often in these areas.

c. Are there proper monitoring infrastructure and equipment, such as watchtowers and sensors?

Metaliaj: No, at the moment there is none.

2. A remote village is surrounded by forest. There is no organized fire department in the area, and the village is hours away from other villages or cities. Who employees the rangers that monitor this area? Are fuel breaks and selective burning used as preventative methods to contain fires from spreading? Are there proper monitoring infrastructure and equipment, such as watchtowers and sensors?

Metaliaj: Same answers as above.

3. A mountainous national park has very little human activity nearby besides hiking and a few small businesses. There are no properly maintained roads or other infrastructure. The summer season has been especially dry. Who employees the rangers that monitor this area? Are fuel breaks and selective burning used as preventative methods to contain fires from spreading? Are there proper monitoring infrastructure and equipment, such as watchtowers and sensors? Metaliaj: Same answers as above.

Transcript Summary for Shkelqim Goxhaj

Where: Tirana Fire Station

When: Tuesday, Nov 19 2019 11:00am

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey, Andrew ● Note takers: Emily, Olivia

Goxhaj: I have worked as the director of the Tirana fire department for 6 years. There are five other stations here in Tirana that all work together and six commanders in total. We are relatively understaffed but it is OK.

Tallan: How much area is the Tirana firefighting department responsible?

Goxhaj: We cover the entire municipality of Tirana, mostly urban areas. In the past few years, no one from this area has died from forest fires and no houses have burned.

Tallan: Does your department also cover surrounding forests?

Goxhaj: Yes we do. I remember there were bad fires everyday from July 15th to September 15th in 2017. The weather was hot and dry. However, no houses were burned and the fires stayed in the forests. Still, we had four shifts, where only one shift stayed in the city and the rest were busy assisting with the fires in the forests.

Tallan: Do you have volunteers that help the fire department?

Goxhaj: Yes, we get some help from volunteers. We started really organizing them in the past two to three years. The volunteers are people from villages in the municipality. I was actually in Austria last month and saw that they had very good organization for firefighters. This inspired me to start forming small teams of volunteers in the village, who have been able to help fight fires. I want to make them more official and equip them with small fire trucks that can carry 2000 liters of water. We meet with them occasionally and sometimes train them over the

course of multiple days. We also have officers come to schools in Tirana every September and October for fire safety training. We even go to schools in villages to educate kids. We teach them what to do in the event of a fire or flood so that they prevent as much damage as possible.

Tallan: How many firefighters are paid and how many are volunteers?

Goxhaj: There are not many volunteers in Tirana. Here, there are 116 paid firefighters, we should have more. Ideally, you are supposed to have at least 1 firefighter for 2000 people. There are over 100,000 people in Tirana so we would need more than 355 firefighters but getting to 200 would be fine for the amount of fire we get here. I was talking to a young guy, who is the commander of the Tirana volunteers, and he knows people in Sweden. I was telling him to try to push for more collaboration between Albania and Sweden since they could help us with more equipment. They have a lot of advanced first aid equipment and fire trucks. We could then do more training and get more people involved in firefighting here.

Tallan: Does the fire department have an adequate amount of equipment?

Goxhaj: There is not enough equipment for volunteers but there is enough for firefighters. There is at least one fire truck in each Tirana station and more here in the main station.

Tallan: How does the fire department utilize technology to fight fires?

Goxhaj: We use thermal cameras and oxygen equipment called AP3, which can be used for 15- 25 minutes in non-oxygenated areas. We don’t have the equipment and money that other countries have yet. We do have people who have lots of experience and have been working here for over 25 years. We have multiple stations so people can call and get quick help for things like fires, floods, car accidents, elevator issues, etc. There are usually more problems in areas outside of Tirana. We have an operation room at the station where there are always people working there 24 hours a day. People can call 128 for firefighters but we are hoping to have people be able to call 112 like how it is in Europe.

Tallan: How does the Tirana fire department compare to fire departments in rural areas outside of the city?

Goxhaj: The Tirana station is in the middle between the countryside and urban areas so it is easy to go to. The officers lack equipment and do not stay in villages. We are talking with the mayor to push for more equipment for the fire service. We are not like the police where we arrest people. We always try to help people and are close with communities. Everything costs so much money so we are pushing for donations. Fire trucks cost over 35,000 euros but hope to buy some in the future.

Markoski: How do firefighters help prevent fires?

Goxhaj: When people see fires, they call us and tell all the information about the fire. We don’t charge them for the service. We start with businesses and insurance and charge them 100 euro per hour for business. When we go to houses, we don’t charge them. We think it’s better to do that because a lot of Albanians are poor. Rich people usually have security and their own ways to put out fires. Hotels and some businesses in Tirana have equipment like fire extinguishers. We 6 people who educate businesses on fires and inspect them. In recent years, there have not been big fires in Tirana and businesses have been getting more equipment to put out fires themselves. Albania is not like Greece and Italy where they have more disasters.

Tallan: How do firefighters transport water to different areas?

Goxhaj: This reminds me, I was actually talking with the Director of Water in Tirana to ask for them to put more hydrants around Tirana. There are some underground hydrants but we need some aboveground. Usually we use fire trucks to transport water around. We have two tankers, which holds 20,000 liters. If trucks are sent out and need more water, they call the operation room to send more tankers but these are only from the main station.

Tallan: What strategies do firefighter employ to extinguish forest fires?

Goxhaj: I’ve been talking with the mayor and director of Albanian firefighting about how to improve this, other than just adding fire hydrants. It gets difficult to send fire trucks to a fire

when there are no roads. We need a corridor so there is space for the trucks. This is a problem in Djate. Back during the communist period until 1995, the corridor system worked well. The government was very strict. They are less involved now but we still have old lines, though they need to be upkeeped more. Having corridors can prevent big fires from occurring in Tirana. We don’t really get big fires like in California. Except for mountainous areas, we don’t have issues with getting to fires. The army sometimes uses helicopters for fires in these areas but there are not enough. The trucks and tankers use pumps, which can get water from rivers and lakes. We need more sources so fire hydrants is a good first step. The main problem is having enough money for everything. However, I have hope. I have traveled around Europe and learned a lot. Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, and Italy help us a lot.

Tallan: What areas of Albania experience the most fires?

Goxhaj: In recent years, two factories across the country have been damaged. The village of Kashar had large fire that took 10 hours to extinguish. Many people were injured. In Elbasan and southern Albania, there were some houses that burned down during the summer of 2017.

Markoski: How has the frequency or intensity of forest fires been increasing over the past few years?

Goxhaj: 2017 had the largest number of fires in Albania in recent years. Tirana had over 500 fires during that year. Over the past few years though, the number of fires has been decreasing.

Tallan: Has the fire department used drones before for any purpose? What are your thoughts on them?

Goxhaj: Our department has no experience with drones. I believe someone in the municipality has one but it is not working. For forest fires, I believe using drones could be very helpful because they could be used in areas with no corridor or space for fire trucks. I don’t think it would be as useful in urban areas. You can use drones to see where fires are and if there are any houses close by.

Transcript Summary for Nensi Lalaj

Where: A cafe near Nensi’s office, Tirana

When: Friday, Nov 22 2019 3:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey, Andrew ● Note takers: Emily, Olivia

Tallan: What is the primary function of the National Territorial Planning Agency? What is your connection with BRIGAID?

Lalaj: The National Data Planning Agency is part of BRIGAID’s Horizon 2020. The idea of involving the Agency is for innovators to have more free access and a wider stakeholder network to get feedback from. Because the floods, fires, and other disasters are tough problems and are big attraction. The Agency is good for finding connections for feedback on the local and national levels.

Tallan: What are your responsibilities as a project manager?

Lalaj: My role is to help the innovation. I have a better view of the stakeholders in Albania, though I also meet with 24 partners outside of Albania. I look at the relationship between innovation and research, and identify different innovations. Currently there are 12 to 14 different innovations in Albania. When I get information, I disseminate it to different people who may be interested in these projects, and I handle local and national interventions.

Tallan: How does BRIGAID support projects to reduce the effects of climate change?

Lalaj: BRIGAID bridges the gap between creation innovation and using it. The Agency is a partner that helps find the best market for the best user. Because if you’re an innovator, you believe your idea is the best, and you want to sell it to the best. We make sure it goes the

proper way in the technical and social aspects. BRIGAID supports innovation for forest fires, droughts, and floods. As far as I know, nothing similar to EXINN’s idea has been done before.

Tallan: Who owns different types of forests?

Lalaj: The forest is divided by land use. The Agency has a website online that would be able to give you more information on it, and will show you how forests are divided for territorial planning. The Prime Minister chooses how the forest is split, and then the Agency does it.

Tallan: How is spatial data collected and analyzed? Do you create any GIS maps?

Lalaj: We use online data so that isn’t produced. GIZ creates map, though. The website asig.gov creates maps in GIZ format containing different geospatial information. Territorial planning just identifies the data to see how it works.

Tallan: Then how does the Agency determine if areas are at risk for a forest fire?

Lalaj: We don’t do that. The emergency department or Institute of Geosciences has people who have that information, for whether fires are going to start in certain places. The Agency only finds stakeholders for different innovations.

Tallan: Who in Albania is most likely the most interested in this?

Lalaj: The emergency department. Insurance companies would be interested for property and land data.

Tallan: In the past, has the government partnered with a PPP to introduce new innovations?

Lalaj: In the past, no. But these are the kinds of steps a project like EXINN’s should do. It’s very hard to present innovation to the end user because everything is focused on the money. You have to find ways like PPP’s to promote and market to the end user. EXINN should market to a private entity, who then markets it to the public. Not through the government to the public, it’s better for Albanians this way. The entity in the middle will provide security for both parts.

Tallan: Would the government provide enough incentive for private companies to think this is a good idea?

Lalaj: If the government wanted to, yes. Years ago, there were no floods. Now they just come all at once, some cities face flood events twice a year now. It’s very difficult. If these issues keep happening, the government will have to find a way to handle it.

Tallan: Do you see fires growing more as a threat?

Lalaj: Yes. The hills and the south are most at risk, especially farms. If you’re in a big city like Tirana, you have to make sure the trees are developed. We have to face these events because of human responsibility, and sometimes accidents. If you believe you have to develop the issue, you need to take yourself away from it.

Tallan: Do you know any examples of a WUI in Albania?

Lalaj: The area I described to you earlier about the fires.

Tallan: What kind of industries in the private sector within a WUI would be most concerned about property damage and fire risk? They might be interested in EXINN’ s system.

Lalaj: In terms of the private sectors, businesses or hotels with large infrastructure that might be damaged by a fire. EXINN’s project, this kind of solution, is very appropriate for this kind of situation. This is the best time, because you can see everything happening as it’s still developing.

Tallan: Given how current forest fires are handled, prevented, and extinguished, how can you see EXINN’s project fitting into current practices?

Lalaj: Current prevention is with humans, no sensors or technology at all. If EXINN present their idea, it would provide a different way of extinguishing. It’s very hard to introduce new technology, until now there was nothing like this before. Personally, I believe EXINN’s system is very good. It’s filling a need because there is not enough being done right now.

Tallan: The Institute of Geosciences creates fire risk bulletins. Are these utilized?

Lalaj: Yesterday I was in a panel regarding this, explaining how all of this worked. But in the end, I had a man raise his hand and say “But I can just check the weather on my phone map! Why do I need this?” They just see the information on the internet, but they don’t read it, they don’t get it. We can’t just give a map, the numbers need to be there as well. This needs to be changed, because otherwise innovation cannot develop. None of the information gets spread out to people who could use it. Representatives only give it to the Department of Emergencies if there’s an immediate risk.

Tallan: Do you know what information goes into risk maps?

Lalaj: They use a lot of different software. There are some stations that detect rain- they give the rainfall, temperature, etc. But the people working in the stations says have the sensors aren’t working.

Tallan: Do you know if they only measure the temperature and rainfall, or do they add things like construction of forest or anything visual?

Lalaj: There’s no modelling. Just the temperature, rainfall, and humidity, only weather data. At the Institute there are bulletins, but even that data is 20 + years old. I think there needs to be a more clear a detailed bulletins for people to be able to use.

Tallan: In your personal opinion, what’s best for a project to be successful in the end?

Lalaj: I was a technical engineer for 10 years. If you want to do something, you have to make the changes in the education, change the accessability to the national data. You also need to focus on helping the research in legal terms. These are the three things innovators should focus on. Albania’s situation is a bit different. It has the ideas, but it needs a way to implement them to be an innovator.

Tallan: What specific issues has Albanian innovation faced that are unique, in terms of legal framework?

Lalaj: In my experience with other researchers and innovators, they really focus on this topic. Some have presented here in BRIGAID but have also had other opportunities to disseminate

information. If someone comes to me in Albania, I’ll take their call. They’re all just look at us like “please get this fast”, because research has to be done within a certain amount of time.

Tallan: Do you believe the Albanian government is providing enough funding to stimulate innovation?

Lalaj: Personally, no. They’re conservative in terms of research and innovation, because they’re brand new topics that need to be further developed. In other countries innovation is a trend, but here in Albania’s it’s a new one. The government provides some funding, but it’s not enough. Innovators have a lot of different gaps. There needs to be more effort in education, more than I expected.

Tallan: For other projects you and BRIGAID have worked with, have any been successfully implemented into the government?

Lalaj: I’m facing the same issue in all of my projects, financing them for testing. Two Albanian innovators were funded by BRIGAID for testing, one by the Artificial Lake in Tirana for fire blankets. They were environmentally friendly blankets you put on the ground to prevent accidental fires. They were a success because when presented in Tirana, the government was immediately willing to facilitate the idea. They’ve been really useful in developing new areas. In this case, the huge success was caused by the amount of testing the innovators did. The blankets were tested during the marathon of Tirana, when there were a lot of people. They worked really well, even with people throwing their lit cigarettes on the ground. The blankets also helped with other problems as well. Before the area had floods, erosion, and tree damage during the rainy season, but now the blankets reduce those effects. They were able to test them a lot, and prove to the government they were a good idea. They tested the blankets in different areas, so they found where they would and would not work. The blankets didn’t work in a space near a children’s playground, because too many people were playing around them. The blankets were nice and soft, so everyone wanted to walk over them. This ended up trampling the seeds underneath and they couldn’t grow. Areas without human activity had seeds growing nicely.

Tallan: Who approved all of these tests? Lalaj: The Agency of Park and Recreation approved of the tests, under the Tirana municipality.

Tallan: So you would say that frequent testing is most important for an innovation? Lalaj: Yes.

Tallan: Have you found any permits, or government requirements that have been a roadblock?

Lalaj: You have to play things the right way to get innovation to work. In my position, I have faced some of these situations. There were a lot of discussions and meetings. I presented my final idea showing I was going to implement my ideas, because you have to be strong. You have to play by your own rules to show them that this is a good idea and they can’t stop you.

Tallan: In your opinion, what is the largest problem- financial, integration, or technical difficulties?

Lalaj: All three. If the government interferes, there will be obstacles. Innovators often present to the EU, but they need to show it here, in Albania. Some aren’t even aware this innovation is available.

Tallan: We have a few scenarios of different situations where forest fires may occur, and we wanted to get your opinion on each of them. In the first scenario, you’re in a WUI, the cable car area in Dajti Mountain National Park. Who monitors the forest there?

Lalaj: I think it’s under the municipality, or maybe the Institute. There aren’t any rangers. The idea is that everybody in the area monitors the area as they’re there, and see the fire when it’s already too large.

Tallan: Is any information such as risk maps created or used? Lalaj: After the events you can see the information in the bulletins.

Tallan: Who is called to extinguish the fire? What methods are used?

Lalaj: The Department of Emergencies under the Ministry of Defense is called. They send people to control the area and see if the fire grew. They might use extinguishers.

Tallan: No preventative measures?

Lalaj: Nope.

Tallan: Who is responsible for reporting the damages?

Lalaj: The Ministry of Defense, because the emergency department is under it. The municipalities have a department, but it needs to coordinate with the Ministry before doing anything so both groups can go together.

Tallan: Who compensates them for property damage? Lalaj: The Ministry of Defense writes a report they give to the Prime Minister, who then decides who pays the compensation. It happens on a national and central level.

Tallan: Our second scenario is a remote forest village. There is no organized fire department in the area, and the village is hours away from other villages or cities. Who monitors the forests?

Lalaj: The same people as in Dajti. If someone sees the fire they’re responsible for getting someone to help put out the fire. They’d try to reach out to the nearest department of emergencies as well.

Tallan: What if there’s no fire department at all? Lalaj: Then they fight the fires themselves however they can. If the fire is high in the mountain they would call the emergency department in the Ministry to get a helicopter.

Tallan: Who pays for the damages? Lalaj: The locals take the damage and pay for things.

Tallan: Does the regional level management do anything?

Lalaj: Just present the information after the fire has happened. They only serve as a communicator between the local and central entities.

Tallan: Our last scenario is in a mountainous national park with very little human activity nearby besides hiking and a few small businesses. There are no properly maintained roads or other

infrastructure. The summer season has been especially dry, and there has been no rainfall for the last three weeks. The temperature has been approximately 30 C and moderate winds are blowing up the slope. What organization employees rangers to monitor the area?

Lalaj: There are no rangers, at least not how you’re thinking. The Ministry of Defense has some ranger but they’re purely responding, not preventative.

Tallan: How quickly would a fire response be? Lalaj: I’m not exactly sure… it really depends on where the fire occurred. The lack of infrastructure would definitely make it take longer though. There are no guidelines for when this sort of thing occurs.

Tallan: Would anyone from the nearby areas try to extinguish the fire? Lalaj: If it was a BIG fire, then yes, they would become volunteers to extinguish and suppress the fire.

Transcript Summary for Business Owner from Dajti National Park

Where: Dajti National Park

When: Saturday, Nov 23 2019 3:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey, Andrew ● Note takers: Emily, Olivia

Tallan: Have forest fires occurred in this area? How often do they occur?

Business Owner: Forest fires do not occur here very often, and they are mostly caused by people, not by nature.

Tallan: How much damage have the fires caused the business, if any?

Business Owner: Not really any.

Tallan: Does the Dajti National Park have rangers? What are their responsibilities?

Business Owner: Yes, they are employed by the state. They secure the forest and maintain control, and they have a strong collaboration with the military and other rangers.

Tallan: How many times has the business had to call the fire department?

Business Owner: We had to call the fire department here around two years ago. We called the higher part of the government because there was a big fire in the area.

Tallan: How long did it take for them to help?

Business Owner: They were quick and even had helicopters.

Tallan: Are risk maps or weather data used?

Business Owner: No.

Tallan: Do people assess the damage after the fire? If so, who? Are you compensated for damages? Is there insurance?

Business Owner: The company has insurance and security per regulations. We also have fire extinguishers, as it is required by the state in case a fire breaks out.

Tallan: Would you be interested in a drone that can find fires when they are small?

Business Owner: Yes, once a small fire started back in 2012 that became huge, just because a hiker left some wood behind. It can happen everywhere and sometimes the wind can make it worse. If it went near my business, it would be a disaster. Fighting a fire is expensive, and it always looks worse in real life than it does on the news. The amount of trees means the size of the fire can grow to be crazy. The cable cars also use thermal cameras to check and see if there are any problems, and this helps a lot.

Tallan: Would businesses want to invest in this, or would the government/insurance put this into place?

Business Owner: Businesses would most likely be interested in buying this directly. There is a lot of corruption in the government, so if they put it in place, the project may not be 100% correct. The company should not wait for the government to do it for them. People wait until the last minute very often and prevention is not employed much here. I am interested in technology myself and have been thinking more about drone technology for more automation. The only form of prevention used otherwise are the rangers, and they work until 2 PM. They have control over the park and people, making sure the areas are clean. Do not expect them to be professional rangers, however.

Transcript Summary for Follow Up with Business Owner from Dajti National Park

Where: Dajti National Park

When: Monday, Dec 2 2019 1:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey ● Note takers: Emily

Tallan: Do you think current fire prevention and firefighting strategies are adequate to control fires in this area?

Business Owner: There are zero fire prevention strategies right now, so no.

Tallan: What would you want most in a fire fighting system?

Business Owner: A system that can prevent fires easily.

Tallan: Given the three possible uses for drone use for forest fires- monitoring (during and after fire), prevention (prescribed burning), or extinguishing- which method do you think is the most useful, most realistic, and has the most potential? Also which is the safest?

Business Owner: Prevention is the most effective. With regards to safety, I don’t see much of a safety concern here. Relationship with the state would be the most realistic. Prevention has the most potential because our country is not very trained to fight big fires, nor is it organized enough. The earthquakes were dealt with by other countries coming in to help.

Tallan: Another solution for fire prevention is the use of multiple sensors that are connected on the same network and spread throughout forests to measure meteorological data like

temperature and humidity. How do you think this type of monitoring compares to using drones for monitoring in terms of most useful, most realistic, and has the most potential?

Business Owner: The thermal camera sounds better than a bunch of smaller cameras. It would be easier to use.

Tallan: Even if we do not use drones, would a thermal camera or sensors be useful?

Business Owner: I do not think so. The drones are needed to put out the fires. We had a fire here before, and just being able to view it does not really help. There is no preparedness because the sensors do not even give a perspective as to where the fire is just from seeing it.

Tallan: Do you believe the idea should be presented to the government?

Business Owner: It should be connected directly to the government, as it is easier to do than to businesses.

Transcript Summary for Restaurant Employee from Ballkoni Dajtit at Dajti National Park

Where: Ballkoni Dajtit, Dajti National Park

When: Saturday, Nov 23 2019 4:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey, Andrew ● Note takers: Emily, Olivia

Restaurant Employee: We do not have signs for egress here, but we do have an area for a pump or hose. We are not sure if it works, however.

Tallan: Have forest fires occurred in this area?

Restaurant Employee: Not a lot have occurred in the area.

Tallan: Do you handle the fire yourselves and if so, with what equipment and strategies?

Restaurant Employee: We help when fires occur in nature, and we use water to put them out.

Tallan: Do people assess the damage after the fire? If so, who? Are you compensated for damages? Is there insurance?

Restaurant Employee: Yes, to deal with damage, but we have to pay for it, unless it happens here at the business.

Tallan: Does the Dajti National Park have rangers? What are their responsibilities?

Restaurant Employee: No, but we are close enough to a government area so that people from there oversee everything. There are not a lot of fires here, though there was a big one that occured 5-7 years ago.

Tallan: EXINN, a technical company, is working on a fire prevention project with thermal cameras and drones. The cameras would detect the fires, see how big it is, and the drones would extinguish the fires. Do you think businesses would use it?

Restaurant Employee: Yes, but I am not sure if businesses would buy it due to the cost. It would make them question the necessity of purchasing it. Additionally, if the businesses are not being trained on how to use the technology, that would be another reason the businesses would turn it away. I am not sure if it would work here.

Transcript Summary for Follow Up with Restaurant Employee from Ballkoni Dajtit at Dajti National Park

Where: Ballkoni Dajtit, Dajti National Park

When: Saturday, Dec 2 2019 2:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey ● Note takers: Emily

Restaurant Employee: Monitoring for all three. Knowing where it is is important.

Tallan: Do you think the concept of the drone (looking for the fire and putting it out) is realistic?

Restaurant Employee: If it did all that, it would be cool to use.

Tallan: What concerns would you have?

Restaurant Employee: None.

Tallan: Do you believe it would replace firefighters?

Restaurant Employee: No, it would only help them.

Tallan: Another solution for fire prevention is the use of multiple sensors that are connected on the same network and spread throughout forests to measure meteorological data like temperature and humidity. How do you think this type of monitoring compares to using drones for monitoring in terms of most useful, most realistic, and has the most potential?

Restaurant Employee: It would work very well in all of those categories if it does not end up unintentionally disrupting or harming the environment or the animals in it.

Tallan: What is better - a bigger thermal camera or many small ones?

Restaurant Employees: Many small ones, because you can see better where the fire is.

Tallan: Another solution would be using drones for extinguishing and sensors for monitoring in combination. How do you think this compares to using drones alone or sensors alone in terms of most useful, most realistic, and has the most potential?

Restaurant Employee: The drone is absolutely necessary, because monitoring isn’t enough on its own. We need to know the size and location of the fire. With just sensors, you don’t know what you need, so the combination is good.

Tallan: Do you have any concerns about safety?

Restaurant Employee: No, I do not see anything unsafe about it. If anything, more safety is needed for fire workers.

Tallan: Could this be the future of firefighting?

Restaurant Employee: More than that, especially since we have grown to become all about technology.

Transcript Summary for Ranger from Dajti National Park

Where: Dajti National Park

When: Saturday, Nov 23 2019 5:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey, Andrew ● Note takers: Emily, Olivia

Tallan: Have forest fires occurred in this area?

Ranger: Not too many fires have occurred in the area.

Tallan: What is your opinion on EXINN’s fire fighting system? Basically, the thermal camera points the direction of the fire, and the drone is ordered from the camera to go where the fire is and put it out.

Ranger: It’s a great idea.

Tallan: How are the surrounding forest areas monitored for fires? How do thermal cameras on the cable cars assist in monitoring?

Ranger: There are no cameras on the cable cars that do this.

Tallan: What preventative measures are taken to lessen the chances of forest fires occurring in Dajti National Park?

Ranger: Sometimes people burn small parts of the forest beforehand so they do not create more places for other fires to spread to. Rangers in all of Albania also clean dry wood from the forest.

Tallan: What are some of the reasons that fires start in the national park?

Ranger: There are many problems with shepherds. They set fire to certain areas in order to clear them completely so that animals can graze. Unfortunately, that creates more opportunity for fires to start.

Tallan: Do people assess the damage after the fire? If so, who? Are you compensated for damages? Is there insurance?

Ranger: There has been damage to the cable car area, mainly the lower part, from fires in the past. The cable itself was damaged too. The company is not allowed to disclose if there is insurance used or not to pay for that damage.

Tallan: So the Dajti National Park does have rangers?

Ranger: Yes, I employ rangers and work at the visitor center.

Transcript Summary for Resort Employee from Dajti National Park

Where: Dajti National Park

When: Saturday, Dec 2 2019 3:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeffrey ● Note takers: Emily

Tallan: Have the number of forest fires occurring been increasing or decreasing in recent years?

Resort Employee: In the past, it has been pretty bad. These fires are sometimes found on the other side of the mountain. Around eight years ago, there was a really big fire.

Tallan: Are they becoming more frequent?

Resort Employee: This area is protected from that, but people do not pay attention to safe.

Tallan: Do you think current fire prevention and firefighting strategies are adequate to control fires in this area?

Resort Employee: Yes, they are good and safe, but the fires are caused by people, not accidentally. One example is that people who chop trees illegally will burn the extra wood left over to destroy evidence. There is enough prevention as well.

Resort Employee: Prevention for all three.

Tallan: What is your opinion on one big camera being used to detect and extinguish fires? Does it seem realistic? Resort Employee: I have seen it on YouTube before, and I think it is really cool. It seems realistic to me.

Tallan: Do you think the drone could end up replacing firefighters?

Resort Employee: It might reduce the number of firefighters, but not replace them completely. The drones may especially be helpful though in areas where firefighters could not get to. Firefighters can also still use fire-extinguishing balls themselves.

Tallan: Where would the drone best be used?

Resort Employee: Here in the park; there are no firefighters in the immediate area, so a faster response would occur with the drone.

Tallan: Does the Dajti National Park have rangers? What are their responsibilities?

Resort Employee: We have people who look over the forest. They come almost everyday, 2-3 times a week, and I have definitely seen them on Mondays. They basically explore the forest and make sure it is in the best possible shape.

Tallan: Another solution for fire prevention is the use of multiple sensors that are connected on the same network and spread throughout forests to measure meteorological data like temperature and humidity. How do you think this type of monitoring compares to using drones for monitoring in terms of, most useful, most realistic, and has the most potential?

Resort Employee: Small sensors, because you can see more and be given signals and you will know far the fire is, as well as the area you need to get to.

Resort Employee: In terms of all three, they could be separate and still work well on their own. Either way would assist in avoiding a big fire. Maybe 1 or 2 towers and command drones would work together too and serve as its own system.

Tallan: What steps are taken when a forest fire is detected in the national park? Do you handle the fire yourselves and if so, with what equipment and strategies? Who do you call to handle fires How long does it take for them to help?

Resort Employee: It takes a couple of hours to stop the fire. People in the area come to help and contain the spread.

Transcript Summary for Amparo Hiraldo

Where: Institute of GeoSciences

When: Tuesday, Dec 3 2019 10:30am

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Andrew ● Note takers: Emily

Amparo: For our bulletins, we use a system called the European Forest Fire Information System, or EFFIS. We use an online tool called Copernicus which allows us to view this EFFIS data. It evaluates fire risk based on the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index, which is used widely in Europe. As a whole, it uses ground data and satellite data to detect active fires and display them on a map of Europe and even North Africa. The program is configurable to view active fires or burnt areas with different satellites or European detection systems. It also uses a database to store statistics of different countries and various years. Overall, this is a very powerful system. It was used in Greece for handling their forest fire issues.

For the risk on our bulletins, we calculate the risks for each prefecture by calculating the average risk in each. Each level of risk has a description on the bulletin and different color on the risk maps. There are three types of risk - forest fires, meteorological (rainfall and storms), and hydrological (landslides and floods). Every year we record statistics of forest fires provided by Civil Protection. I personally believe that the calculations of Civil Protection as not very accurate. Fires usually happen most from September to October but it really depends on the weather. This year, we had lots of fires from January to March. We have seen that some areas with lower risk of fires have actually had a large number of fires. This is because human activity, in this case agriculture, is higher and more frequent in September. An important details of our risk evaluation scale is that ours has 4 levels, while EFFIS has 6. I believe ours should shift to the EFFIS standard.

Markoski: What specific data is used to calculate fire risk?

Amparo: We use meteorological data from the ground and from weather forecasts. From this data we calculate a weather index number. There are around 20-25 meteorological stations around Albania that measure temperature and humidity. However, they are not maintained very well right now and currently have many problems. The stations were installed a long time ago by World Bank and have not been maintained since then. Forecasts for forest fires are important but there is also a need for education at the central and local level for people to understand the risk of fires when they start fires and how this risk is influenced by weather conditions. At least with EFFIS, we can analyze statistics related to forest fires, including burned areas and total fires. Additionally there is another tool called GWIS that is like Copernicus.

Markoski: Does the institute create risk maps that more specific than the prefect level:

Amparo: No. The tools we use are not accurate enough and need to be more detailed. Without local modeling with ground data, we cannot get more detail.

Markoski: So far, we have interviewed members of the General Directorate of Civil Emergencies and Agricultural University of Tirana-

Amparo: Oh, do you know Ingrid? She has worked at the university for 2 years doing international relations. She could definitely help you find additional data and contacts.

Markoski: Well, we have found other interviewees that seems to be a lack of data made available related to forest fires.

Amparo: Much of these statistics are not posted by the government. The EFFIS usually has more accurate data anyway. DesInventar is another tool that has this type of data, though I am not sure how accurate or complete it is, especially for floods. Just be careful since many online calculations are from satellites, not ground stations. In general, I think the organization of Civil protection here is a bit of a mess. Their capacities are very low. We did a training workshop in English recently about the risk bulletins but almost no one from Civil Protection came. Less than 10 out of the 40 people that signed up attended. It’s a shame because then Civil Protection calls us during the week to ask questions about the bulletin. We need a common product that we can create together to improve how we and civil protection coordinate. Here is

the presentation I showed them. Sometimes people expect us to be unreasonably precise in our forecasts but we just do the best we can with what we have.

Markoski: You explained earlier that had heard about EXINN’s project. How would this fire prevention system fit into current fire monitoring and prevention strategies?

Amparo: I think there is a lot of potential for using drones in Albania. They would especially because there are a lot of wilderness areas that do not have human access. Therefore, it is often not feasible to bring a large fire truck with a pump out to a forest fire since it requires a good road system. From what I’ve noticed, these fires start as small fires caused by human activity like clearing land for agriculture. There’s other possibilities for using drones as well. They could help monitor active fires or be equipped with sensors like thermometers and hydrometers to measure meteorological data. Wind is another factor that is very important and should be considered alongside temperature and humidity.

Markoski: Do you think it would be beneficial for the Institute to coordinate with EXINN on their project?

Amparo: I’m not sure, maybe. The company would need to approach the institution and we would have to see the benefits of the collaboration. We are small and understaffed as well so we would need to clearly identify capacities in the partnership like what training we would receive and what tools they would bring to the table. But if EXINN was interested, I think it could be good. At the end of the day, you or someone else would have to approach the director of the Institute and explain what they need from us and what we would do. Similarly there is an NGO called the Green Climate Fund, which funds projects related to fighting climate change. They are currently in the process of helping with a fire monitoring system themselves for the MoE.

Markoski: What kind of areas would benefit most from EXINN’s project?

Amparo: Remote mountainous areas with forests because they are largely not accessible and tourism is growing in Albania. One of our main attractions here are beaches and mountains. We

have mountains everywhere here, from north to south. Communication with these mountain regions are often not adequate.

Markoski: Do you have any concerns about EXINN’s project itself?

Amparo: The only thing is that I don’t know about the regulations in Albania regarding drones. The drones would also need to be simple to operate to make sure maintenance is kept up in the future. Otherwise, having all the drones in one place is good but we would need to have people with expertise and new buildings for that. In general though, I really like the whole idea of the project and think it is cheap, sustainable, and fast.

Markoski: Would you imagine that the government would fund the project or would it be funded by private businesses?

Amparo: In other countries, the government would likely be interested in Public Private Partnership but here in Albania, you really need to have the right contacts to get the government on board. Maintaining the stations we have is difficult and due to the earthquake, all the professors were talking to the president of the country for the first time in ages about emergency management. For a project like EXINN’s to succeed, it needs a strong local partner with strong connections to both the public and private sectors. In Albania, it’s difficult because people do not have a high level of knowledge about these things like emergency management and drones. They would not understand the necessity of the project. Like when we did the training about the bulletins, someone from civil protection did not understand why the institute was measuring the impacts since he did not understand how it differed from just a commonly available weather forecast. People ask us why we can’t immediately forecast landslides. It’s literally impossible to predict. Anyway, Ingrid from the university might have interesting contacts who have worked on different research projects. Also I’ll give you the contact info of someone I know GIZ.

Markoski: Going back to the bulletins that the Institute sends to the Civil Protection Agency. Do firefighters or rangers use them at all for firefighting or fire prevention?

Amparo: No. I barely know anything about how the firefighting department functions here. I think I know where one of their stations is around here. I know in January, Civil Protection will be revised to get their budget and may use the bulletins differently. There is supposed to be a representative for each perfect. I have no clue how the information from the ministries in the central government gets passed to these regional representatives. I think there is a lot of issues related to lack of coordination and miscommunications.

Transcript Summary for Edmond Pasho

Where: Cafe near Agricultural University of Tirana

When: Tuesday, Dec 3 2019 10:00am

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Jeff ● Note takers: Olivia

Dr. Pasho’s Presentation:

Dr. Pasho studied at the Agricultural University of Tirana, Mediterranean Institute of Chainia in Crete, Greece, and the University of Zaragoza in Spain between 2000 and 2013 to obtain a Bachelors of Science, complete his master thesis, and his PhD. He now lectures at the University of Tirana, and has many highly-regarded papers and certificates of excellence. His academics focus on forest growth, and how it relates to climate change.

A few months ago, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism contracted Dr. Pasho for a project concerning monitoring burned forest area using data from 2017. His team sifted through data the municipalities provided the government, choosing 150 places that fires had burned worst for further studies. They gathered satellite images of these areas before traveling to these areas record current growth data, including remaining damages, species that were thriving, and species that had failed to re-grow entirely. Certain municipalities reported data lessa accurately, because they feared the government criticizing them.

Follow up Questions over Email

1. Are property damages and infrastructure damages recorded in the Disaster Loss Database compiled by municipalities and the National Environmental Agency?

Pasho: I believe they are recorded.

2. How are areas at risk of fires identified? Has satellite monitoring been used for this purpose? Has GIS been used to help prevention strategies?

Pasho: As far as I know, until now satellite monitoring has not been used for that purpose. There exist few studies which discuss the use of GIS technology for fire risk assessment but they are not thorough.

3. Do you refer to risk maps and daily fire risk bulletins provided by the Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment?

Pasho: As far as I know, in the past, institutions mostly referred to forest fires inventory data to predict the risk maps rather than daily fire risk bulletins provided by the Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment. However, nowadays I believe they also use the data provided by the GEWE.

4. Who uses these bulletins (researchers, firefighters, government)?

Pasho: Mostly researchers and government.

5. What are the current and predicted changes in frequency, intensity and damage of fires in the near future?

Pasho: As I stated above, there exist few studies about this issue but they are not thorough and not conclusive.

6. How is this affected by climate change?

Pasho:The climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of droughts, associated with increase in temperature which favors fire occurrence.

7. How is this affected by development patterns and agricultural clearing?

Pasho: I think in the future there will be needed more open areas for agriculture and settlements which most likely will increase the intensity and frequency of fires as a mechanism for creating such areas.

8. Our project involves using a thermal camera to monitor a large area of forest. This thermal camera will detect fires, locate their coordinates, and communicate with firefighting drones to navigate to the area and extinguish fires before they get too large. Given the three possible uses for drone use for forest fires- monitoring (during and after fire), prevention (prescribed burning), or extinguishing- which method do you think is the

a. most useful?

Pasho: Extinguishing.

b. Most realistic?

Pasho: Monitoring.

c. Has the most potential?

Pasho: Prevention.

9. Another solution for fire prevention is the use of multiple sensors that are connected on the same network and spread throughout forests to measure meteorological data like temperature and humidity. How do you think this type of monitoring compares to using drones for monitoring in terms of

a. being the most useful?

Pasho: Yes.

b. Being the most realistic?

Pasho: No.

c. Having the most potential?

Pasho: Yes.

10. Another solution would be using drones for extinguishing and sensors for monitoring in combination. How do you think this compares to using drones alone or sensors alone in terms of

a. being the most useful?

Pasho: Yes.

Tallan: Being the most realistic?

Pasho: No.

Tallan: Having the most potential?

Pasho: Yes.

Follow up Questions by Email

Tallan: Given the three methods of financial implementation for drone system:

1) Public Buyout (By central government such as Ministry of Defense) 2) Private Ownership (A collection of businesses investing together for fire protection or a private company buying the technology for a business model) 3) Public Private Partnership (Where the government would partner with private sector to use the service for public good while managed under a private company) Pasho: In my opinion the most likely is the third one because the central government does not have the financial capacity to buy it. The second one could be possible but I am not very confident.....

Tallan: Do you have any concerns about the drone system?

Pasho: I am concerned about bureaucratic issues.

Transcript Summary for Orjeta Jaupay

Where: Cafe near Agricultural University of Tirana

When: Wednesday, Dec 4 2019 2:00pm

Team member roles: ● Lead interviewers: Andrew ● Note takers: Emily

Markoski: Could tell us a bit about how exactly fire risk is determined for the bulletins? We had heard that there stations set up that measure data like temperature and humidity.

Orjeta: We don’t have own model. We just take data from EFFIS and then send it in the bulletins. EFFIS has six thresholds: No risk, low risk, moderate, high, very high, and extreme. The Institute only has four thresholds: No risk, low risk, moderate, and high. These are determined by the fire weather index from EFFIS, which relies on other indexes. We use four thresholds because the bulletins use four levels of risk. On the bulletins we also issue three types of alerts: fire hazards, meteorological risk (average and maximum precipitation and storms) and hydrological hazards (flash floods, floods, and landslides). These are explained on the third page of the bulletins.

Markoski: So specifically, does the Institute rely on satellite data or data from on-the-ground stations?

Orjeta: We use the EFFIS which has two types of data. One from a certain European model and another from Meteo France. These have different resolutions. The European system has 8 km resolution while Meteo France has 10 km resolution. Our risk data is based on the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS). The system takes into account humidity, wind, and precipitation. But, they only assume that there is one type of vegetation spread evenly over an entire area. Variation in biomass is not considered. I believe the type of vegetation they use if Old Pine.

Markoski: Going back to the bulletins that the Institute sends to the Civil Protection Agency. Do firefighters or rangers use them at all for firefighting or fire prevention?

Orjeta: We disseminate our bulletins and maps to Civil Emergencies and they probably send it to the Prefects. We send these out before 12 PM every day and also post them on our Facebook page and website. The information covers information from noon to midnight of the previous day.

Markoski: Can you tell us about the stations around the country that collect meteorological data?

Orjeta: I’m not sure I understand. I have explained how send maps to Civil Protection.

Markoski: Are the Institute’s risk maps and bulletins used by firefighters or rangers?

Orjeta: All we do is send the bulletins to Civil Emergencies and then they do whatever they want with it. We really have no idea how they use it. We try to issue events before they occur. Civil Emergency handles the rest. We only collaborate more if they ask us for help, like if they are trying to track the direction or size of a fire. We help them decide what would improve situations and we can also provide them with more data. We provide training workshops to help Civil Protection understand the bulletins, what we need, and what we can improve on.

Markoski: We are doing a case study on the Dajti National Park regions. Do you know about fire risk in this area or the recent fire history of the area?

Orjeta: I’m not sure I understand. The Institute started creating bulletins for the government in 2011. This was the year that this center was built. The Institute did not start working on forest fire risk until very recently, three or four years ago. The Institute had meteorologists and hydrologists but no experts in forest fires. As far as I know, no institution did this kind of work. I’m a biologist interested in bioenergy, which is why I’m more concerned about fires. We needed some time and training to actually learn about fire risk forecasts and how to collaborate with the Civil Protection Agency. I can show some data from 2016 to 2018. We are currently in the process of finalizing records for 2019. We also have monthly summaries where list the

number of fires and burnt area. Comparing data between us and EFFIS we see that that EFFIS reports less fires because they do not include small fires like we do. We have various records of data that we collected from EFFIS but some months in our records are incomplete.

Markoski: Are you able to send us some of these tables and graphs?

Orjeta: No. You would have to send a request to the director to get approval because this data is not published anywhere else yet.