Leveraging "eyes and ears" in forest fire prevention and control.

(Baonghean) - During the peak of the 2015 heatwave, up to June 15th, Nghe An province experienced 12 forest fires of varying sizes, resulting in a total damage area of ​​approximately 44 hectares. The Provincial People's Committee held an urgent meeting with districts prone to forest fires, forestry units, the agricultural sector, and forest owners to review and learn from experience in forest fire prevention and control. However, forest fires continued to occur in Nam Dan and Quynh Luu districts. Reports from the Forestry Department expressed concern that with the continued hot weather, controlling forest fires will be difficult, and extinguishing fires once they occur will be very challenging, leading to significant forest damage.

Regarding forest fire prevention and control during the hot season in Nghe An, the main target is always the pine forests in Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Do Luong, Nghi Loc... with an area of ​​nearly 30,000 hectares currently being exploited and some special-use areas requiring strict protection of about 16,000 hectares. For the past two months, with extreme heat, the risk of pine forest fires in our province has been at a particularly high level. Forest fire prevention and control plans have been implemented, such as creating firebreaks, clearing undergrowth, patrolling for forest fires, and being ready with the "four on-the-spot" measures... However, the reality is that forest protection, like a revolutionary cause, requires the participation of the entire population to succeed. First and foremost, districts and communes in key forest fire-prone areas must raise awareness among every citizen about protecting the forests they live next to, where they harvest forest products and enjoy the green environment...

Currently, in many villages and communes, there are highly effective security teams and militia units operating day and night, ready to patrol and protect people's property and maintain public order and safety. With a spirit of community service, they are able to grasp all developments and situations within the villages and hamlets. So, how are these forces operating in areas with easily flammable pine forests? Have local Party committees, authorities, and organizations shown concern and encouraged them to perform their duties well, especially in forest protection? Have they been promptly rewarded after successful forest fire suppression efforts? It is highly likely that, during peak seasons of forest fire prevention and control like this, with appropriate encouragement and support, this force could be very effective in both directly disseminating information, patrolling, guarding, detecting, and gathering information from the people to serve forest fire prevention and control efforts. After all, they are the eyes and ears of the people, living among them, understanding and grasping every detail of daily life in each village... Therefore, they would be the ones to detect suspicious activity or the first signs of smoke, promptly informing the authorities and relevant agencies to prevent forest fires... In other words, shouldn't they be given additional forest fire prevention and control duties during peak seasons?

Based on practical experience, perhaps we should learn from localities with pine forests that rarely experience fires, such as Nghi Loc. This locality has built 50km of firebreaks, provided funding to communes to invest in purchasing 14 blowers and 5 chainsaws, with each commune having about 50-100 machetes and 1-2 chainsaws... and most importantly, Nghi Loc has done very well in forest fire prevention. The entire district has built 7 fire watchtowers, cleared undergrowth, and pre-burned flammable materials for 2,000 hectares of forest. Here, pine resin harvesting is also carried out according to regulations, so there are no conflicts of interest among the people leading to forest destruction; at the same time, all forest land certificates have been issued to the people so that they can protect their own forests. As a result, Nghi Loc experiences few pine forest fires, and if they do occur, they are detected and extinguished promptly...

Pearl