Most forest fires in the country are found to be caused by human activities. And it is at this time of the year that forest fires are common. To help prevent forest fires in the country, foresters of Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP) in Paro are creating awareness by visiting locals at their homes.
The park officials have been sensitizing the people on the impacts of forest fires and how they can play a part in preventing them.
This time, foresters are creating awareness in Tsento, the gewog with the highest recorded fire incidents in Paro.
“It is better when we go door to door and advocate them on forest fires because most of them are at home. Some are in the fields working and some at constructions sites, we go to places where there are more people and advocate them on rules and regulations and of course on the cause and effects,” Dargay, the Ranger of Soe Range Office, said.
Records with officials show that in 2017 and 2018, Paro lost more than 8,000 acres of state forest reserve to forest fires.
Forest fires in Bhutan are usually caused by human activities such as burning debris, from smoking and by unattended campfires. Some have also been caused by electric short circuits.
According to Forest and Nature Conservation Rules and Regulations of Bhutan 2017, an individual needs to get a permit from the forest office to make campfires which will be allowed only in designated recreational areas.
And in case of burning agricultural debris, an individual should get permission from the concerned Gewog Administration or Thromde to burn the debris.
“If a person doesn’t get permission from the nearest forest office or gewog administrations to burn agricultural debris, they will have to pay a fine of Nu 5,000. And if it leads to a forest fire, the person has to pay Nu 5,000 daily until the fire is contained, the same applies even if the person gets the permission, ”Ranger Dargay said.
As per the rules, if a fire starts from school premises, the school has to plant 3,000 saplings. And if a child aged below 18 causes the forest fire, the parents have to plant 500 saplings.
Other than the loss to the ecosystem and biodiversity, forest fires cause air pollution and huge economic losses. Since 2007, 49 forest fires have been recorded in Paro alone.
