Increasing incidence of forest fire can be prevented only with the active participation of local people, T.V. Sajeevan, Principal Scientist, Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), has said.
He was speaking on ‘Reasons for Forest Fire’ at a workshop organised by the Thrissur Press Club here on Wednesday against the backdrop of the death of three foresters at a wildfire at Desamangalam in the district recently.
“Our forests are prone to fire due to increasing temperature and dry climate. More than firefighting, the focus should be on prevention of fire incidents. It is very important to take local people into confidence and make them part of the plan for preventing fire. Reducing the amount of flammable substances in the area and clearing fire line are important for prevention of fire,” he said.
Along with environmental and climatic conditions, socio-political reasons also added to the risk of forest fire. Without addressing them, we would not be able to reduce such risks, Dr. Sajeev said.
He added that most of the forest fire accidents were man-made.
Impact on water quality
Addressing the workshop, P.S. Easa, former Director in-charge of the KFRI, spoke on the impact of forest fire on quality of water, soil and air.
“There are not many detailed studies on how fires have been affecting the water retention capacity and soil quality of forests or how biodiversity has been destroyed by the fires. We need to study the socio-economic and environmental impact of fires,” he said.
Gopakumar Cholayil, environmental scientist, spoke about drastic changes in the climate pattern and its impacts.
“In all, 1,688 heat-related cases have been reported in various hospitals in the State in the past one year. Heat waves, cold waves and dust devils, which used to be alien terms for us, have become common since 2016. Changes in temperature pattern in the high ranges have already started affecting our cash crops,” he said.
