How to help wildlife during the season of forest fire?

As per ISDR, Forest fires are a major cause of degradation of India's forests. While statistical data on fire loss are weak, it is estimated that the proportion of forest areas prone to forest fires annually range from 33% in some states to over 90% in others. About 90% of the forest fires in India are created by man. The normal fire season in India is from the month of February to mid-June. Forest Survey of India predicts that about 3.3 million hectares of forests are annually affected by fires in India.

Already incidences of Forest Fire are breaking up across the Karnataka state, the latest report states the fact that we need to do early detection and help the forest department for minimum damages.

Above is a recent image reported on Conservation Threats shows the fire lit in strange elliptical shape is indeed the work of man, being lit up in a linear manner.

Threats by a Forest Fire: Fires  destroy seedlings affecting regeneration of native plant species Fires also increase the growth of fire hardy plant species such as Anogeisus latifolia (Dhaura), Lantana, Cassia fistula (Indian Laburnum) affecting the diversity Forest fires also kill small and slow-moving species

Two Steps to prevent the Forest Fire Damage

Many a Forest Fire are detected and reported by the public. Public wildfire reports have resulted in immeasurable savings for our forest and wildlife.

STEP 1: Inform the Forest Department

How to Report a Wildfire?
If you see a wildfire, please report it to the nearest forest department office. The list of phone numbers of Forest Department whom you can contact in case of Forest Fire and other conservation threats to the region are downloadable from the KFD website

What details to be provided?
When reporting a wildfire, kindly mention the below:
Name and phone number (Optional)
Location of the fire
What the fire is burning (grass/ bamboo?)
Size of the fire and how quickly the fire is spreading

The details that you provide are critical in determining the type of response that the fire will receive from forest fire suppression authorities. Your help is greatly appreciated as it helps the department to allocate resources more efficiently and respond quickly to wildfire activity

STEP 2: Report on Conservation threats Site

Why to Report on Conservation Threats Site?
Conservation Threats aims to compile data and analyse from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information (patterns and relationships) that can be used to plan for preventive measures.

How to Report?
Go to www.conservationthreats.org
Sign In to "Report a Threat"
Select Threat category ‘Forest Fire’ and Location from the list
Type in Report title and description
Choose the Date of incident from the prompt
Upload Pictures or provide video Link
Use the Map to pinpoint the incident (zoom in for accurate location marking)
Click on Submit Button

Forest Fires

The first learning during my stay at Bandipur during the 3rd week of March was Forest Fires. I was under the impression  that Forest fires were caused mainly due to dry boughs rubbing  against each other (taking into consideration a large amount of  dry dead leaves littering the forest floor) , due to  lightning during storms and sometimes by man. I was in for a  rude shock when I came to know that all forest fires in India  were caused by Man!

We are so much influenced by American way of life through the  medium of television, that we know a lot more about their wildlife  than our native species, we know the emu and the ostrich than  the Bustard, we know about the cougar more than we know about  our panthers, we know a lot more about African elephants than  about their Asian cousins and so also I was under the impression  about forest fires through natural causes through the widely  televised events shown in TVs about the fires in US.

Indian forests are mostly deciduous type . Even  during the driest season they contain enough moisture to rule  out fire due to natural causes. Unfortunately the same cannot be  told about the invasive species -lantana, eucalyptus and the Australian wattle which the government has planted everywhere to  suck out the underground water, to wipe out the native species  and thus deny the herbivores that depend on them for food, and  hence to go extinction ( the introduced species neither provide  good shelter nor do they provide fodder) and to support fire to  spread easily  (these trees are so dry and the leaves litter do  not decompose fast and contain oil thus encouraging fire). Of  course that wasn't their idea, their logic seemed to simply rotate  around the fast growing nature of these trees. How could the  govt without a scientific analysis on the impact from these  trees to the native environment do mass planting everywhere ? why  do they still continue doing so even after the impact is so  visible and screamed out loud by the scientific community?

Our forests are fragile. Every successive fires caused  accidentally or deliberately by people living within and the  fringes of the forest areas inadvertently causes irreversible  damages to the ecosystem. Fires bring down century old trees  that are destroyed beyond repair and encourage rampant lantana  growth in the successive rainy season. Not to mention the  animals that perish in the fires. Bandipur this Summer saw fires  breaking out all around. The concerned forest authorities were  helpless. They lack resources to control and prevent fires. They  lack man-power and motivation. True they don't take steps to  secure but dare I point at them? Isn't it true that the number  of forest watchers and guards are at their record low? That  there haven been any new permanent posting, the govt happy to  appoint guards on contract basis and pay them poorly.

So, what is the solution? Encourage forestation with native  species. Check the growth of lantanas. Educate the tribal and  villages encircling the forests about the menace of forest fires  and steps they must take to prevent accidental fires. Educate  tourists on the same lines. Post more guards and watchers. Raise  their salaries to the level of hawaldars in the civil dept.  Provide them with equipments to control fire in case of forest  fires. Its a big task ahead of us. Educating the masses ,  mobilizing them to protect this rare treasure that's in our  hands.