Effectiveness of forest fire prevention and control

Việt Nam•29/12/2023

Forestry officials and civil servants in Dien Bien district access the forest fire warning application software.

Due to the influence of the El Nino phenomenon, the weather and climate in the province have been complex, with prolonged heatwaves and reduced rainfall. In particular, March and April coincide with the agricultural burning season, posing a very high risk of forest fires. To proactively implement forest fire prevention and control measures, from the beginning of the dry season, the Forest Protection Department has intensified its direction to the Forest Protection Units in districts, towns, and cities to organize and implement forest fire prevention and control work throughout the province. The application of information technology in carrying out assigned tasks has also helped improve the effectiveness of forest fire prevention and control. In addition, the forest protection force has focused on raising public awareness of forest conservation and mobilizing the strength, role, and responsibility of local Party committees and authorities in forest management, protection, and fire prevention and control.

Forest rangers in Muong Nha district have put up signs prohibiting deforestation to raise awareness among the local people.

Sharing the outstanding results in forest fire prevention and control in the province in 2023, Mr. Ha Luong Hong, Head of the Forest Protection Department, said: In the province, people live in rural areas, their main occupation is farming, mainly cultivating crops on hillside fields, with few paddy fields. Living conditions and economic challenges remain, and profits from buying and selling forest products are high. The practice of building houses with wood and using firewood as fuel creates many difficulties in forest management and protection. In addition, the weather has been unpredictable, with El Nino phenomena and prolonged droughts, increasing the risk of forest fires and putting significant pressure on the forest protection force in forest fire prevention and control. Despite these difficulties, the Forest Protection Department has proactively developed plans and prepared solutions to prevent forest fires. Since the beginning of the year, local forest rangers have guided community forest owners, households, and individuals in the province to develop 2,715 fire prevention and control plans for the assigned forest areas. They have also advised the People's Committees of communes to consolidate and recognize 1,231 village-level forest fire prevention and control teams with 12,794 members, ready to carry out firefighting tasks in the area. In addition, all 7 forest owners that are organizations, including the Nậm Pồ District Police, Nà Tấu Prison, the District Forest Protection Management Boards (Điện Biên, Tuần Giáo, Mường Chà), the Mường Phăng Historical and Environmental Landscape Area, and the Mường Nhé Nature Reserve, have developed forest fire prevention and control plans and submitted them to the local forest ranger station and fire prevention police agency for feedback.

The Provincial Forest Protection Department inspects forest owners' compliance with fire prevention and control laws.

Besides developing plans, the Forest Protection Department also focuses on inspecting compliance with fire prevention and control laws by forest owners. During the year, inspections were conducted at the Forest Protection Management Boards of two districts: Muong Cha and Tuan Giao. The forest protection force also proactively coordinated with local Party committees and authorities to organize "forest fire response and search and rescue" drills in 2023. Five drills were organized at the commune level in the following communes: Luan Gioi (Dien Bien Dong district); Hua Ngai (Muong Cha district); Sin Thau (Muong Nha district); Cha Nua (Nam Po district); Ang To (Muong Ang district), and two at the district level (Tua Chua district, Dien Bien Phu city).

Forest rangers are inspecting areas at risk of wildfires.

On the other hand, to improve forest fire prevention and control, the forest protection force has also applied many techniques and technologies in the forecasting process over the past year. Specifically, units regularly monitor and update meteorological and hydrological forecasts from the Dien Bien Meteorological and Hydrological Station and forest fire warning information on the website of the Forest Protection Department, to promptly notify and forecast forest fires. When forest fire warnings at levels III, IV, and V are issued to relevant agencies, units, and forest owners, they can proactively and promptly implement appropriate and effective forest fire prevention and control measures. In 2023 alone, the entire province detected 10,375 fire points from the Forest Protection Department's forest fire warning system, providing 149 suspected forest fire points to the Forest Protection Departments in districts, towns, and cities for inspection, verification, prevention, and timely handling. Thanks to effective prevention efforts, in 2023, only 7 out of 75 forest fires caused damage in the province, with a total burned forest area of 2.94 hectares across 5 districts: Tủa Chùa, Mường Nhé, Nậm Pồ, Mường Chà, and Mường Ảng. Of this, 0.37 hectares were burned in production and protection forests, and 2.57 hectares were burned in DT2-class forests undergoing natural regeneration.

Thanks to the synchronized implementation of various solutions, forest fire prevention and control has yielded effective results, contributing to the strict management and protection of 419,756.7 hectares of forest in the province; raising the forest cover rate in 2023 to 44% (an increase of 0.46% compared to 2022). To achieve even more positive results in forest fire prevention and control, it is hoped that each level, sector, and individual citizen will continue to raise their vigilance, proactively prepare equipment and personnel, and be ready to fight fires when necessary; thereby contributing to improving the effectiveness of forest fire prevention and control in the province in the future.

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