BAGUIO CITY -- Less than two months since
the start of the year, the Bureau of Fire Protection recorded a high number of
forest fires in the Cordilleras due tokaingin (slash and burn farming) as
compared to 2018.
"There were 55
cases of forest fires recorded from January 1 to February 23," said Chief
Insp. Glenn Pang-et, BFP-CAR Intelligence and Investigation Section chief.
Data from the BFP
regional office show that this is over a third of the 151 incidents of forest fire
recorded in 2018 -- a total of 20,880 hectares of forest were burned last year.
Pang-et added that there were 178 incidents in
2016, affecting 6,113 hectares of forest land; and 64 incidents in 2017, which
burned an area of 13,509 hectares.
He said the BFP is still
investigating the 55 forest fires recorded since the start of the year to
determine the actual size of the damaged area.
Based on a separate
report from Benguet provincial environment office, on February 20, a forest
fire gutted the forestry area being maintained by Philex Mining Corporation and
killed five persons, three of whom are employees of the company tasked to
maintain the area.
The other fire incidents
reported over the past weeks were the burning of grassland and vegetation of
the Akiki trail area at Mount Pulag, particularly in Kabayan, Benguet, which
lasted for a week from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6.
The incident damaged
more than four hectares of vegetation, which has yet to recover from a fire
incident in 2017 caused by irresponsible trekkers.
On Feb. 2, another fire
damaged a two-hectare area in Mount Yangbew in La Trinidad.
On Feb. 5, a forest fire
also damaged around four hectares in Barangay Ampusongan in Bakun, Benguet.
Several other forest fires were recorded
in Cordillera provinces which are still being investigated and consolidated by
the BFP.
The BFP-CAR is looking
at kaingin or farm clearing in the mountains to give way to vegetable
farms, which is the primary cause of the forest fire incidents.
The BFP had repeatedly
urged the public not to start a fire in the open mountain areas as it can go
wild and unmanageable due to the wind.
The BFP-CAR officers, in
earlier interviews, also repeatedly urged farmers to stop the practice
of kaingin as most them oftentimes lead to bigger and uncontrollable
forest fires.
Meanwhile, the Dept. of
Environment and Natural Resources continues to appeal to the communities in
Benguet to put a stop to burning forest lands.
Benguet Provincial
Environment and Natural Resources Officer Carlos Arida said the practice of
upland farming or the conversion of forest lands to agricultural lands, using
the traditional kaingin, has become a problem in the different parts of the
province since the start of the year.
Arida said that based on
the reports of the BFP, several incidents of uncontrolled fires in forested
areas and tourist destination mountains in the province were mostly due
to kaingin.
He said that the DENR
would be monitoring the areas damaged by forest fires to see the situation to
allow them to plan for their rehabilitation.
He added that the agency
would intensify its information, education and communication campaign,
particularly targeting the upland farmers in efforts to save the remaining
forests. -- PNA
No comments:
Post a Comment