Prevent forest fires, save J&K’s Green Gold

Rising forest fires in Jammu and Kashmir are emerging as one of the major environmental hazards and calls for measures to prevent destruction of flora and fauna in forests.

J&K boasts of having 21,387 sq kms of forest cover with rich reserves of flora and fauna. Forest resources are imperative for maintaining ecological balances and also serve as catchments for Himalayan rivers. These forests are home to many species of wildlife. Forests in J&K have been facing an onslaught of extensive felling of trees for timber smuggling.

Many forests especially in Kashmir have been denuded and tree stumps stand as epitaphs of destruction. For the last several years, forest fires are taking a toll on natural resources in forests. Besides, forest fires cause extensive pollution releasing harmful gases and subsequently affect human health.

Recently there was a massive forest fire in Zabarwan range in Srinagar. There was loss of tree cover and forest resources in the devastating blaze. In the last several months including winter, forest fires were witnessed in various areas of J&K including Line of Control in Poonch.

As per experts, forest fires are mainly triggered due to prolonged dry spells and rise in temperature. Forest fires are a global phenomenon in summers. Forest fires, particularly in Canada, the US, and Greece, have led to serious destruction and casualties in the past several decades.

Over 3,000 forest fires were documented in the Brazilian Amazon last month. This marks the highest February count since records began in 1999.

Last month, Forest fire devastated populated areas of central Chile killing over 100 people. More than 400,000 hectares of forests were reduced to ashes. As per reports, Boreal forests in the Northern Hemisphere have been experiencing the worst wildfires in recorded history in 2023.

The total wildfire emissions for 2023 are estimated to be almost 410 megaton’s, the highest on record for Canada by a wide margin. The previous annual record was set in 2014 at 138 megatons of carbon.

Back to J&K, increasing human activities, in fact intrusions in forests, are emerging as major reasons for forest fires.

A Geographical Information System (GIS) based Rapid Assessment of Forest Fire Vulnerability Mapping based on Actual Forest Fire Incidences in J&K conducted by the Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing identified the causes and recommended mitigation preventive measures.

Over 50 percent of the total forest area in 6646 compartments across J&K falls in the high and medium vulnerable zones. The study was conducted in 30 forest divisions comprising 102 ranges across J&K. It states that in the Jammu region, three divisions are highly vulnerable namely, Jammu, Nowshera and Reasi, showing the highest number of fire incidents. In Kashmir region, division Bandipora shows highest numbers of forest fire incidences.

The number of fire incidents reduced drastically in June with the arrival of monsoon rains, being minimum in July and August respectively.  The study notes that scanty precipitation in dry winter coupled with increase in day temperatures escalate the chances of forest fires, which was a rare sight in the past.

“Normally forest fires in Kashmir region would take place in the month of May-July when atmospheric temperature and dryness offer favorable circumstances for a fire to start.” The study states that the rate of fire spread in Pine forests increases dramatically, even when fuel moisture content is as high as 25-30%, compared to 6-8% level in other forests.

The study emphasises that Remote Sensing and GIS based fire vulnerability models can be beneficial for managing the most fire vulnerable areas in any forest. The mapping of forest fire vulnerable areas based on actual forest fire incidences has been completed and only implementation matters in cases of eventualities.

There have been many forest fires in Dachigam National Park in Srinagar for over a decade. Dachigam is home to many wild animals. It is the last bastion of critically endangered Hangul. Disturbances including forest fires can disturb inhabitants of the Hangul and affect its last surviving population.

Due to mountainous and difficult terrain, it is an arduous task for firefighters to reach forests during any fire incident. There are two ways to douse fire in forest areas without any road links. It is either traditional or modern firefighting measures.

People who live near forests can promptly control flames. Authorities can train people living in habitations near forests in firefighting. Fire hydrants linked with pipelines from streams can be installed in various areas of the forests for use in case of fire incidents. This way at least fire can be controlled by these first responders from spreading to larger areas.

Another way is hi-tech technological interventions. Recently researchers of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) researchers proposed to use multiple swarms of drones to tackle forest fires. In case of alarm about fire, the multiple swarms of drones laced with cameras, infrared sensors, temperature detectors reach the exact spot of fire and drop accurate payload for extinguishing fire.

We have to understand that forests are an important part of our fragile ecosystem. Any disturbance in forests is bound to affect humans. We have seen an uptick over the last several years in human-animal conflict mainly due to movement of wild animals into human habitations.

There is a need to formulate a comprehensive strategy to prevent and control forest fires. It is high time to save our forests from destruction. It is the collective responsibility of the government and people to save the Green Gold for our sustenance and future generations.

Author is Executive Editor, Greater Kashmir