Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev says catastrophic wildfires this summer have demonstrated the need to reform the nation's forest protection legislation and the state forestry agency.
Medvedev said Wednesday at a government meeting focused on forests that the blazes had shown that the current law and the existing official structures can’t protect the forests.
The hottest summer since records began 130 years ago and an accompanying drought sparked tens of thousands of fires in Russia. More than 50 people have died directly in the fires, and about 2,500 residences across Russia were destroyed.
The drought has cost the country a third of its wheat crop, prompting the government to ban wheat exports through the end of the year.
