High risk of fire in over 12 thousand hectares of untreated pine forest in Nghe An
Nghe An has nearly 15,500 hectares of pine forests, concentrated in Nghi Loc, Nam Dan, Yen Thanh districts... This type of forest has very specific difficulties in fire prevention and fighting.
Inadequate clearing of vegetation and making firebreaks
Son Thanh is one of the communes with a large pine forest area in Yen Thanh district. During this hot season, more than half of the area has not been cleared of vegetation and firebreaks. On the high hills, the vegetation layer is thick and dense, with many dry branches lying scattered right at the edge of the forest.
Mr. Ngo Quyen, a forestry officer of the commune, said: Nearly 100 hectares of pine forest have been assigned to groups of households and families in the commune. The area of forest cleared of vegetation this year has decreased significantly, reaching less than 40 hectares.
People mainly go abroad to work as laborers or do side jobs, not focusing on forestry. Especially at the beginning of the hot season this year, the price of pine resin is very low, only 17,000-18,000 VND/kg. If we use the income from pine resin to hire people to clear the vegetation, it will not be enough. Pine forests are mainly located on high hills, so clearing the vegetation is even more difficult.
Mr. Ngo Quyen - Forestry officer of Son Thanh commune
Similar to Son Thanh commune, in most localities where pine forests are contracted to the people, this issue is very inadequate and does not meet the requirements. Yen Thanh district has nearly 1,000 hectares of pine forests in 18 communes, but only nearly 500 hectares have been cleared of vegetation.
The most difficult problem is that nearly 500 hectares of forest planted in 1976-1978, now contracted to the people, is so old that resin exploitation is almost ineffective. The area cleared of vegetation and firebreaks is insignificant.
According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Khanh, Head of the District Forest Protection Department: In addition to the awareness and subjectivity of the people, due to the sharp decrease in the price of pine resin and the high cost of hiring labor to exploit, people do not want to exploit resin. There is no source of income, while the cost of hiring people to clear the ground cover is expensive, so forest owners do not have the conditions to invest again.
Most of the pine forest area is surrounded by people living around it, so the risk of fire from daily production activities, entering and leaving the forest to exploit resin, and even tourism is very high.
For example, during the April 30 - May 1 holiday this year, the forest fire that spread from Thanh Chuong to Nam Dan only originated from the burning of ground cover by a household. Although the authorities mobilized nearly 1,000 people to fight the fire overnight, it still burned about 18 hectares of forest, damaging nearly 6 hectares of pine and acacia forests.
Risk from people's subjectivity
Nghe An also has many pine forests distributed and beautifying the landscape in areas with important historical relics. Worryingly, the number of tourists visiting these relics in the summer is quite large, while the forest protection force is small and fire fighting equipment does not meet the requirements.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Binh, Head of Nam Giang Forest Protection Management Station, Nam Dan shared: Firefighting equipment is still rudimentary and lacking; meanwhile, the area is large, the number of tourists visiting Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan's tomb is very large and frequent, especially during the holidays and summer vacations of students. With over 4,000 hectares of pine forest, in Nam Dan district there are many areas of old forest with very thick vegetation, however, only less than 400 hectares have been cleared of vegetation, basically on the area managed by the Special-use Forest Management Board.
During the hot season, the temperature in Nghe An is harsh for many days, the outdoor temperature sometimes reaches over 40 degrees Celsius, posing a great risk of forest fires.
Meanwhile, Nghe An currently has nearly 15,500 hectares of pine forests. In addition to economic and environmental benefits, in some localities such as Nam Dan, Vinh city... the pine forest area is also associated with important historical relics.
In the coming time, the weather will continue to be hot and dry, while the area of pine forest cleared of vegetation is only about 3,000 hectares. Thus, the risk of forest fires in the hot season is even higher on the remaining 12,000 hectares. Unlike many other forest trees, this type of tree contains a lot of essential oils, so it is very flammable and spreads easily.
