TOPIC : FOREST FIRES NATURAL HAZARD OR MANMADE DISASTER

THE CONTEXT: Australia has declared a state of emergency for the state of New South Wales (NSW) along with a catastrophic fire warning the highest level of bush fire danger in light of widespread bushfires that have left at least three people dead. Bushfires are a routine occurrence in the country, but this bushfire season is believed to be the worst and has started even before the beginning of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

PRESENT ISSUE OF FOREST FIRE

AMAZON FOREST FIRE

• The Amazon rainforest, which is home to a fifth of the world’s land species and more than 30 million people, including hundreds of indigenous people, experienced the third-worst forest fires in the last ten years.
• The region has experienced more than 74,155 fires since January, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE).
• In 2019 September 19,925 fires broke out, 19.6 per cent less than the number of fire outbreaks same period last year, according to the latest INPE data. In September 2018, there were 24,803 outbreaks in the Amazon.

CALIFORNIA FIRE

• Brush fire in Ventura county, north of Los Angeles, grew rapidly on Friday, even as calmer winds have allowed fire crews to increase containment of other wildfires plaguing California.
• The forest fire in California is frequently in a year.

BANDIPUR NATIONAL PARK

• A five-day fire that raged through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve has reportedly burnt more than 15,400 acres of forests.
• Between February 21 and 25, 2019 the reserve saw 127 fire counts in various ranges of the 912 sq km forest.

FOREST FIRE

• The most common hazard in forests is forests fire. Forests fires are as old as the forests themselves. They pose a threat not only to the forest wealth but also to the entire regime to fauna and flora seriously disturbing the bio-diversity and the ecology and environment of a region.
• During summer, when there is no rain for months, the forests become littered with dry senescent leaves and twinges, which could burst into flames ignited by the slightest spark.
• The Himalayan forests, particularly, Garhwal Himalayas have been burning regularly during the last few summers, with colossal loss of vegetation cover of that region.
• Forest fire causes imbalances in nature and endangers biodiversity by reducing faunal and floral wealth. Traditional methods of fire prevention are not proving effective and it is now essential to raise public awareness on the matter, particularly among those people who live close to or in forested areas.

CAUSES OF FOREST FIRE

Causes of forest fires can be divided into two broad categories

1. Environmental (which are beyond control) and
2. Human related (which are controllable).

Environmental causes

• Are largely related to climatic conditions such as temperature, wind speed and direction, level of moisture in soil and atmosphere and duration of dry spells.
• Other natural causes are the friction of bamboos swaying due to high wind velocity and rolling stones that result in sparks setting off fires in highly inflammable leaf litter on the forest floor.

Human related causes

Result from human activity as well as methods of forest management.  These can be intentional or unintentional, for example:

• Graziers and gatherers of various forest products starting small fires to obtain good grazing grass as well as to facilitate gathering of minor forest produce like flowers of Madhuca indica and leaves of Diospyros melanoxylon
• The centuries old practice of shifting cultivation (especially in the North-Eastern region of India and in parts of the States of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh). etc..

Classification of Forest Fire Forest fire can broadly be classified into three categories;

1. Natural or controlled forest fire.
2. Forest fires caused by heat generated in the litter and other biomes in summer through carelessness of people (human neglect) and
3. Forest fires purposely caused by local inhabitants.

Types of Forest Fire: There are two types of forest fire

1. Surface Fire and
2. Crown Fire

Surface Fire

• A forest fire may burn primarily as a surface fire, spreading along the ground as the surface litter (senescent leaves and twigs and dry grasses etc) on the forest floor and is engulfed by the spreading flames.

Crown Fire

• The other type of forest fire is a crown fire in which the crown of trees and shrubs burn, often sustained by a surface fire.
• A crown fire is particularly very dangerous in a coniferous forest because resinous material given off burning logs burn furiously.
• On hill slopes, if the fire starts downhill, it spreads up fast as heated air adjacent to a slope tends to flow up the slope spreading flames along with it. If the fire starts uphill, there is less likelihood of it spreading downwards.

EFFECT OF FOREST FIRE

Fires are a major cause of forest degradation and have wide ranging adverse ecological, economic and social impacts, including:

• Loss of valuable timber resources
• Degradation of catchment areas
• Loss of biodiversity and extinction of plants and animals
• Loss of wildlife habitat and depletion of wildlife
• Loss of natural regeneration and reduction in forest cover
• Global warming etc…

VARIOUS INITIATIVES

MoEFCC guidelines

MoEFCC issued a set of national guidelines for forest fire prevention and control in 2000. These guidelines call for:

• Identification and mapping of all fire prone areas,
• Compilation and analysis of database on forest fire damages,
• Development and installation of fire damage rating system and fire forecasting system,
• All preventive measures to be taken before the beginning of the fire season

National Master Plan for Forest Fire Control

The main objectives are:

• To strengthen the organizations responsible for forest fire management
• To coordinate international transfer of technology and training in the field of forest fire management
• Creation of a strong database for: number of fires, area burnt, damage to flora and fauna, effect of fire on land and soil and measures taken
• Assessment of ecological, social, and economic impact of fires
• Strong national extension strategy for people’s awareness and their participation in forest fire management through Joint Forest Management and NGOs

Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme

In 2017, Intensification of Forest Management Scheme was revised and replaced as Forest Fire Prevention & Management Scheme. The main objectives of the scheme are as follows:

• Minimise forest fire incidences and help in restoring productivity of forests in affected areas
• Encourage partnership with forest fringe communities for forest protection
• Prepare fire danger rating system and devise forest fire forecasting system

Pre-Warning Alert System

• Forest Survey of India has developed Pre-Warning Alert System.
• It gives alerts to state forest departments based on parameters like forest cover, forest types, climatic variables (temperature, rainfall) and recent fire incidences over the area

NDMA Guidelines

Major recommendations include:

• Incorporate Forest Fire Prevention and Management (FFPM) in existing policy and planning documents
• Establish National Forest fire Knowledge Network
• Capacity building of forest officials for better use of early warning systems
• Assess risk and prepare vulnerability and risk maps
• Document national and international good practices and utilise them for making forest fire management more effective and practical
• Increase community awareness

Draft National Forest Policy, 2018

• It calls for safeguarding ecosystems from forest fires, mapping the vulnerable areas and developing and strengthening early warning systems and methods to control fire, based on remote sensing technology and community participation.

FAO Recommendations on Forest Fire Management

• To conduct comprehensive analysis of the forest fire situation in India, including the study of number of fires and area burnt; the effects of ecological, economic and social impacts, current capacity for forest fire management at the National and States levels, including review of existing laws, regulations and policies covering forest fire management.
• To design a training package on strategic forest fire management planning which would enable Indian foresters to prepare site specific fire plans for all the forest types in the country
• To conduct training courses for the foresters and planners, who would then be capable of preparing strategic Forest Fire Management Plans and providing identical training to large number of field foresters throughout the country.
• To develop minimum one model State Forest Fire Management Plan to serve as an example for subsequent State plans and National plan. Plans are to be organized into a series of program components, which can be considered for development assistance by international donors and financiers.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES:

1. Lack of appropriate policy: In India there are no clear guidelines for forest fire management. In November 2017, National Green Tribunal (NGT) had asked the Environment Ministry to evolve a national policy for prevention and control of forest fires. However, no progress has been made so far.
2. Lack of funding: the allocation of funds to the states for forest fire management is largely insufficient. Further, a large amount of the money allocated under the forest management schemes are not released
3. Early Warning: Unlike western countries, forest fire in India is largely man-made which makes it difficult to predict
4. Lack of community participation: In most of the Indian states, community participation in forest fire management has been poor
5. Lack of manpower: Lack of manpower hinders clearing of fire lines and also affects the patrolling of forest areas.
6. Climate Change: The forest fire management in India do not include climate change aspects in planning, policy formulations and implementation stages

WAY FORWARD:

Policy

At the national level, a cohesive policy or action plan should be formulated to set forth the guiding principles and framework for FFPM. The policy and programmes for forest fire management should incorporate the dimension of climate change

Management

Forest fire prevention and management practices used by state forest departments also need to be strengthened

Funding and Human Resource

Greater funding for construction of watchtowers and crew stations and for frontline officers and seasonal firewatchers to spot fires is needed. Further, adequate training should be provided to field officers, seasonal firewatchers, and community volunteers involved in firefighting.

Technology

Modern firefighting techniques such as the radio-acoustic sound system for early fire detection and Doppler radar should be adopted.

Data and information

There is a need to support forest fire management through improved data and research to fill critical knowledge gaps

Awareness

Awareness generation for forest communities and visitors is important to prevent loss of life and injuries. Further, regular drills on escape methods and routes based on forest types should be conducted.

Best Practices:

1.Canadian Forest fire Danger Rating System:

• The system collects data on fuels, weather, topography, foliar moisture content (how much moisture is in the leaves and pine needles), and type and duration of prediction.
• The data helps managers of various fire agencies determine the areas that are most vulnerable to fires and allocate their resources accordingly. Further, the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System helps managers assess how far a specific fire can spread and its severity.

2. Role of forest community: Best Practice in India:

• Bilapaka village in Mayurbhanj District of Odhisa: The villagers have set up the Bilapaka Jangal Surakshya Parichalana Committee (BJSPC).
• The villagers have developed an effective warning mechanism and a process to immediately stop small fire incidents

CONCLUSION: A significant amount of technical options to assist Forest Department in increasing their resilience, preparedness and response capacities against forest fire are known and available at regional, national and international levels. However, the spectrum of available options is often not known or easily accessible. To make Forest Fire Management more effective, it is of utmost significance that available options are systematically assessed, documented, shared and adapted to location specific needs in a participatory way.

STATISTICAL REPORT:

Forest Fires Report in India:

• Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and World Bank recently released a joint report on forest fires in India.

Highlights:

• At least 60% of districts in India are affected by forest fires each year.
• The top 20 districts in terms of area affected by fire from 2003 to 2016 account for 48% of the total fire-affected area and they mostly fall in Central India.
• The 16 of the top 20 districts in terms of fire frequency are located mainly in the Northeast.
• Here, forest fires tend to be concentrated in a smaller area that is subject to repeated burning.
• The peak fire season is the most concentrated (shortest) in the Northeast and the Northern state of Bihar.
• Fires in other regions, particularly districts in Central and Southern India, are more expansive.
• Districts experiencing widespread and frequent forest fires include areas of dry and moist deciduous forest.
• These include the borderlands of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Telangana that are affected by fire on a nearly annual basis.
• Notably, between 2006 and 2015, forest fires were detected in just under half (281 of 614) of the protected areas in India.

What are the proposed reasons?

• In line with other parts of the world, people are the main driver of fires in India.
• Forest fires are distributed close to people and infrastructure in India.
• Also, India’s monsoons are largely responsible for the seasonal nature of forest fires in the country.
• Forest fires peak during the dry months of March or April before the arrival of the monsoon.
• The fire season mainly occurs during the four-month period between February 15 and May 15.
• Besides, the reduced contrast in land-sea temperatures had weakened the engine that drives the monsoon.
• But it is not yet clear how the drying of the monsoon has affected the intensity or frequency of forest fires.

Significance:

• Forest fires contribute to global warming and hence climate change, by releasing carbon stored in trees, undergrowth and soil into the atmosphere.
• Given this, the report gains significance with recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming.
• The findings are crucial for India’s own pledge on creating additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Co2-equivalent by 2030.
• In the long run, climate shifts due to anthropogenic global warming may further alter India’s forest landscape and fire regime.
• Also, the MoEF issued national guidelines on Forest Fire Prevention and Management (FFPM) in 2000.
• But these are no longer being implemented in true spirit.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has documented the shortage of dedicated funding for FFPM at the central and state levels.
• The recent report is thus expected to be a key input in issuing a national policy on FFPM.

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