DENR prepares CL personnel to combat forest fires

Alarmed with the possible onslaught of forest fires brought by long dry spell, DENR Region 3, San Fernando City, Pampanga intensifies protection efforts to avert occurrence and escalation of forest fires in the region.

According to regional executive director Regidor de Leon, forest fires in the region destroy an average of 2,600 hectares of natural and established forest plantations a year. "Forest fires account for about 64 percent of the region’s total deforestation rate or some 4,000 hectares annually," he said. Slash-and-burn farmers, charcoal makers, careless picnickers and disgruntled reforestation contractors account for much of the forest fire incidents.

Last year’s forest fires in Central Luzon destroyed about 2,462 hectares amounting to approximately P10 million. "Forestry experts estimate that without government’s reforestation and protection efforts, Central Luzon’s forest cover would be gone by 2005," he added. DENR records show that only 194,500 hectares out of the total 771,174 hectares or of barely 20 percent forestlands in the region, excluding Aurora, have adequate forest cover.

Regional Technical Director for Forestry, Ricardo Calderon, said that DENR has fielded some 261 forest protection officers and fire fighting crew in fire-prone forest areas. "Forest fires usually break out from the months of February until May when there is very little rainfall. Wind direction and vegetation type also determine how fast and how far forest fires would spread," he explained. Calderon urged local government units and communities near forest areas to watch out for fire breakouts, saying that public vigilance is essential to enable the DENR respond swiftly in fire emergencies.

Forest fire has been regarded as an environmental horror, although under certain conditions, it becomes an essential process in regenerating forest species and recycling essential nutrients. Among its adverse effects are destruction of food and land resources, health and sources of income of communities living in and around the burned forest areas, and biodiversity; diminishing of the soil-and-water holding capacity of forest ecosystem leading to soil erosion in the uplands and flooding in the lowlands; and global warming.

Almost all of the forest fires were human-induced primarily through lean cleaning by "kaingin" method and incendiarism. These basically are the major activities that Region 3 will keep watch so that fire would not destroy much-treasured forestlands.