The sessions of the second day of the "Preventive Measures in the Face of Environmental Crimes and Forest Fires" seminar, discussed the extent of preparedness and readiness of the concerned authorities in Saudi Arabia to confront forest fires, and what the next stage requires of technologies and equipment that keep pace with modern developments in this field. The seminar was organized by Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS), in cooperation with the Emirate of Asir region and the International Criminal Police Organization "Interpol". During the seminar, theoretical scientific papers were presented on ways to confront forest fire crimes, and the field application aspect was attended by direct field linkage with the firefighting teams working to combat a fire that broke out in one of Taif forests. During the second day's sessions, a number of speakers demanded the introduction of modern regulation and laws that include firefighting mechanisms and strict penalties against those who ignite them in line with the nature of each region of the Kingdom. This is in addition to dealing with forest fires as a national priority in the security, environmental and economic fields, and reconsidering the applied procedures, supporting the capabilities of civil defense and activating legislative texts that address the phenomenon of forest fires, raising community awareness and benefiting from international experiences in the field of procedures followed in the face of forest fires. The activities of the second day began with the third session, which was moderated by Maj. Gen. Dr. Ali Bin Abdullah Al-Shehri, with a paper presented by the CEO of Natural Hazard Research in Australia, Dr. Richard Thornton, who spoke about how Australia deals with these fires, and the role of the National Research Center in covering all natural hazards. He was followed by the Korean expert Dr. Jong Hee Ryun, who talked about the Korean artificial intelligence technology and its role in all the information and the daily picture of forest fire follow-up. The head of the Central Environmental Operations Unit in the Spanish Civil Guard, Gemma Armero, spoke through a paper entitled (Introduction to the Investigation of Forest Fires and Prevention Techniques) about the hazard and risk of forest fires to national security in Spain and ways to deal with them. In the fourth session of the seminar moderated by expert Tobias Wiemann, Maj. Gen. Dr. Ali Al-Shehri spoke about the integrative efforts to reduce forest fires, noting that forest fires are among the sensitive issues due to considerations including the scarcity of the stock area of those forests. He pointed to the psychological and social repercussions of fires by asking some examples of the "Ghulamah" mountain fire in the city of Tanomah, south-west of Saudi Arabia and he indicated that cigarette residues are one of the most common causes of forest fires. He spoke of the Kingdom's keenness to benefit from the experiences of developed countries with expertise and distinguished practices in dealing with forest fires. NAUSS Professor Dr. Mayada Mustafa Al Mahrouqi presented a paper entitled "Preventive Measures to Protect the Environment from the Risks of Forest Fires at the National and International Level", in which she talked about the reciprocal relationship between forest fires and climate change, stressing the importance of understanding of the behavior of forest fires and how to take proactive measures in this regard. — SPA
