Forest fire: their harmful and beneficial effect and to know about Rehabilitation of burnt area and fire control practice in Nepal.

 Forest fire: their harmful and beneficial effect

                                And

    To know about Rehabilitation of burnt area and fire control practice in Nepal.

                      

                     

          

Forest fire:

Forest fire can be described as any uncontrolled combustion or burning of plants in a natural setting such as forest. It is also known as bush or vegetation fire.

 It occurs mainly in summer and autumn. An average of 19.8 billion ha of forest are reported to be significantly affected annually by forest fire according to FAO.

  

Effects:

 Forest fires have different impacts on the environment, and different parts of vegetation depending on their size and frequency, the causes are also diverse. For most people, forest fire is synonymous with disaster. But there are some kinds of forest fires that actually benefit the environment.

 The causes can be natural as well as human linked activities.  But today, natural causes are much less frequent and now give place to human activities, whether voluntary or not.

Harmful effects:

Forest fire can be deadly destroying homes, wildlife habitat and timber, and polluting the air with emissions harmful smoke.

Forest fires increase carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and climate change. In addition, ashes destroy much of the nutrients and erode the soil, causing flooding and landslides.

§  Effects on the tress:

 

Ø Fires occurring early in the growing season are likely to kill a large percentage of the trees in a stand.

Ø  Death is caused by the killing of the cambium or living layer between the bark and the wood.

 

§  Effects on wildlife:

Ø Forest fire results in to enormous loss to wildlife and birds. It burns not only eggs or young ones but sometimes bigger animals also.

 

 

 

§  Effects on Regeneration:

Ø Most of the regeneration is completely wiped out in ordinary ground or surface fire.

Ø Fire in artificial regeneration areas of plantations, not only completely destroys the plantations but also results in wastage of money spent in raising the plantations.

 

 

 

§  Effects on soil:

Ø Forest fires in their action on the soil affect its physical properties more critically than its chemical properties.

Ø The forest fire destroys the humus and soil micro flora which in turn affects the forest growth.

§  Effect on the productive power of forest:

Ø Repeated fires degenerate a valuable evergreen forest into inferior deciduous forest or even grass land.

Ø Valuable species disappear and their place is taken by inferior fire hardy species.

 

§  Effects on the protective power of forest:

Ø Even ordinary fire burns down the ground cover and undergrowth completely and therefore it affects the protective power of the forest.

Ø When protective power of the forest is reduced, it causes increase in soil erosion and run-off.

 

§  Effects on the human life and other properties:

Ø But fire can be deadly polluting the air with emissions (Co₂ and other gases) harmful to human health.

Ø Buildings, livestock, and property of all kinds are at times threatened by forest fires and serious losses results.

 

Beneficial effects:

For most people, forest fire is synonymous with disaster. But there are some kinds of forest fires that actually benefit the environment.

A controlled burn is a wildfire that people set intentionally for a specific purpose. Well-thought out and well-managed controlled burns can be incredibly beneficial for forest management in part because they can help stop an out-of-control wildfire. The technique is called 'Backburning', and it involves setting a controlled fire in the path of the approaching wildfire. Some of which are:

§  Uses in Silviculture:

Ø  In coniferous forests and Acacias it helps in regeneration.

Ø   Fire gives growth stimulants by the minerals released in ashes.

Ø    In clear felling burning is done to permit natural / artificial regeneration.

Ø  Fire promotes dominant useful species; in Sal and teak forest, controlled burning suppresses other species.

 

§  Uses in fire prevention:

Ø   Fight fire with fire by backfiring/ counter firing from prepared lines.

Ø   By construction and maintenance of fire lines to prevent fire.

Ø   Fire/ control burning keeps down undesirable shrubs and encourage grass, which promotes wild life and birds.

Ø    Fire is used successfully to control brown spot disease in long leaf pines.

Ø   Prescribed burning is useful when regenerating direct seeding, planting, or natural regeneration.

 

§  Improve wildlife habitat:

Ø Prescribed burning is particularly appropriate for wildlife habitat management.

 

§  Increase biodiversity:

Ø Periodic burning induces environmental changes that result in plant and animal communities that are adapted to fire.

 

 

§  Control insects and disease:

Ø Brown spot disease; burning is the most practical method of disease control; if implemented properly it eliminates the diseased needles without killing the terminal bud.

Ø Prescribed burning also seems to reduce problems associated with Fomes, annosus root rot by altering the microenvironment of the forest floor.

 

§  Improve forage for grazing:

Ø Low-intensity burns increase availability, palatability, quality and quantity of grasses and forest.

 

§  Seed Germination Promoted:

Ø Seed requiring Scarification for germination e.g. legumes such as Astragalus and Trifolium.

Ø  Fire ruptures and splits seed coat, thus water and oxygen permeates germination.

 

practice Rehabilitation of burnt area and control in Nepal.

The rehabilitation of a burned landscape directly relates to the type and condition of the forest and the severity of the burn. Fire ecologists use the term burn severity to refer to the effects of fire on soil conditions and hydrologic function. In general, the denser the pre-fire vegetation and the longer the fire burn on a particular site, the more severe the effects on soil and its ability to absorb and process water.

Public and private entities invest millions of dollars to implement emergency measures that protect people, communities and critical resources from post-fire events such as flooding, erosion, mudslides, hazard trees and related degradation of water supplies and storage facilities.

Common Emergency Rehabilitation Practices:

§  Hillslope Stabilization Treatments

§  Soil & Sediment Traps

§  Channel Treatment

§  Tilling & Scarification

 

Control practice in Nepal:

Forest fire control include not alone the actual suppression of burning forest fires, but also prevention of the start of fires plus all activities , carried on prior to suppression , directed towards reduction of the fire danger and toward effective suppression of fires.

 The following methods are adopted for the detection,  control and extinguishing of forest fires.

 

1.   Detection:

§  Fire watchers  

§  Watch towers

§  Detection and communication

§  Aerial patrols

§  Local people

 

2.   Communication:

§  Through special runners, messengers moving on foot , horseback or on a vehicle.

§  Departmental telephone  

§  Wireless links

 

 

3.   Quick action:

§  Quick action is required for effectively controlling forest Fires.  

 

 

4. Personnel/labor:

§  The fire fighting personnel/labor consists of the following:

§  Trained staff of the forest department who play a major role in fire fighting squads.  

§  Local labour engaged for this purpose.  

 

 

 5. Tools and other requirements:

§  In many cases it is not possible to put out the fire with water. Other methods has to be adopted. For these a number of hand tools are needed.  

 

 

 

 

6. Transport:

§  Transport is required both for men and materials for effective fire control.

§  a good network of moterable roads , mule tracks and footpaths.  

 

7. Water:

§  Water is essential for firefighting both for putting out the fire where sufficient quantities are readily available and also for the fire fighters.