Warning of forest fire risk during burning season in Ky Son

(Baonghean.vn) -During these extremely hot days, in Ky Son district, temperatures have reached nearly 40 degrees Celsius in some places. It is also the burning season, so the risk of forest fires is very high.

Coming to Ky Son district (Nghe An) at this time, it is not difficult to see the scene of fires or fields still emitting smoke due to forest burning for farming. In the first days of June, the heat is considered to be the peak of 2017 with outdoor temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, those fires are potentially causing high risk of forest fires.

A local resident's field is being burned at the border between Ta Ca commune and Tay Son commune (Ky Son). Photo: Ho Phuong

According to information from the Ky Son Forestry Department, border communes such as Nam Can and My Ly have the largest reserves of rich and medium forests in the district, but are places where people still depend on upland rice as a food source. Na Ngoi commune has over 19,000 hectares and a population of over 5,000 people. Apart from some villages with rice fields, most farming activities are more or less related to forest clearance and slash-and-burn farming.

An official of Na Ngoi commune committee said that currently many villages in the commune have grown wet rice, however in villages such as Pu Quac 1, Pu Quac 2, Pu Quac 3, Tham Hon... most people still grow upland rice.

Nam Can commune has over 90km²natural area, 7 Mong villages, only a few rice fields, so most residents depend on food from upland rice. My Ly commune has 12 villages, mainly Thai people, also an upland rice production area.

It is easy to see newly burned fields these days in Ky Son district. Photo: Huu Vi

These are remote areas, Ta Ca and Tay Son communes are quite close to the district center but the phenomenon of slash-and-burn farming is still quite common. On the afternoon of June 1, 2017, passing through the border area between Hoa Son village, Ta Ca commune and Tay Son commune, we recorded some images of the phenomenon of slash-and-burn farming in this area. Fires caused by slash-and-burn farming appeared sporadically from the mountain opposite the road from Ta Ca commune to Tay Son, billowing smoke.

Ky Son district has 21 communes and towns, most of which have people cultivating upland rice. Every year, from April to June of the lunar calendar is the time when people clear land for farming. This is also the time of year when it is often the hottest, with a high risk of forest fires.

In 2017, there were no forest fires in Ky Son district. Since the beginning of the year, the agency has organized propaganda sessions on forest fire prevention for 4,000 people. Currently, the weather is extremely hot, so this force is also highly concentrated, a leader of the Ky Son Forestry Department added.

Other forest trees were affected after the slash-and-burn situation occurred. Photo: Ho Phuong

However, in March 2016, a serious forest fire occurred in Na Ngoi Commune (Ky Son). After 5 days, the fire had spread several kilometers before being controlled. According to the report of the Ky Son District Forest Protection Department, the forest area damaged in the fire was 11.5 hectares. The culprit of the fire has not yet been identified.

Ky Son district has more than 104,000 hectares of forest land, including areas such as Nam Can and Na Ngoi that still have rare sa moc forests. It can be said that the risk of forest fires during the hot season is real, so the government and related sectors need to strengthen propaganda and inspection work to prevent and not let forest fires from slash-and-burn farming occur./.

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong