International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Recurring Uttarakhand’s Forest Fires: Nature, and Seasonality of forest fire, Data Discrepancy and Perceptions
Abstract
Man-made fires have been an integral feature of chir pine (Pinus roxburghii)-banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) zone of Uttarakhand since the time immemorial. It is highly seasonal, each year during pre-monsoon, forest fires in Uttarakhand are issue of major debate with regard scale, nature, causes and impact of fires and measures required to address the problem. Here, we have characterized the seasonality of forest fires in Uttarakhand, data discrepancies, and perceptions of the stakeholders. The forest fire regime in Uttarakhand is characterized by frequent surface fires of small sizes, ranging from 1.55 to 3.37 ha/fire incidences. The seasonality and extent of fire depend on the timing of fresh litter fall, the main source of fuel to fire, severity of pre-monsoon drought and people’s felt need for fodder to feed livestock. Largely because of the pre-monsoon droughts, 2009, 2012 and 2016 were the most fire affected years in Uttarakhand, the yearly incidence of forest fires being 1608, 2074, and 2150 respectively, compared to the average fire incidence of 1169.50±264.35 fires per year. Data pertaining to fire frequency and affected area were collated from two sources: State Forest Department (SFD) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The differences in number of fire incidences between the two sources are large and need to be reconciled to develop a meaningful mitigation strategy to deal with forest fires. From the interviews conducted, it was found that while forest officials now realize the importance of community participation in fire control, communities are no more interested to participate, with decreasing day-to-day dependence on forest resources. The ongoing changes in the relationship of people with forests need to be analyzed and included in the policies related to forest management.
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References
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