The forestry department on Friday took ownership of six new drones.

Two of the drones were donated by online trading platform Exness Global Ltd, while the remaining four were acquired under contract with the Cyprus Institute.

The drones were received at a handover ceremony at the forestry department’s central offices in Athalassa and were acquired as part of a memorandum of understanding between Exness Global Ltd and the Cyprus Institute.

Speaking at the ceremony, Forestry Department Director Charalambos Alexandrou said the use of unmanned drones will help the department manage forest fires.

He added that the drones will act as “an additional measure, both in the prevention of fires in conducting aerial patrols to detect fires or arsonists, as well as extinguishing them.”