Fire Prevention and Mitigation in Madagascar
Speaking to the Forest Management Committees around the Sainte Luce Littoral Forest last year, forest fires were highlighted as one of the major threats and the Committees asked for support in understanding and managing these. It’s taken a while to get everyone together and gather support, but in March of this year, Project Ala began work with the Forest Management Committees on managing fires and raising awareness ahead of the windy season next month.
The fires that threaten littoral forests are often started because of human activity. People have stated that the most common causes of fire were those started by people clearing land, smoking fish to carry to market and cooking foods such as cassava and sweet potato, which are then left unattended. One small mistake can have serious consequences, damaging existing forest and setting back conservation efforts, including tree planting. Climate change is also a contributing factor to the severity of fires in this region, with high temperatures, low soil moisture and the presence of dry organic material, typical of the Sainte Luce area, being exacerbated by changes in climate (USGCRP, 2017).
SEED’s Project Ala has been planting trees to establish five habitat corridors between isolated forest fragments, reconnecting viable lemur habitats in the Sainte Luce Littoral Forest. However, the young trees in these corridors are particularly vulnerable to fire. Trees within the corridors at this stage in development are exposed to more sunlight and wind, less humidity and higher daytime temperatures, drying out leaf litter and creating fuel for fire (Armenteras et al 2013).
Consequently, having fire mitigation strategies in place to safeguard the five Project Ala corridors is an essential element of our work. Since the beginning of the Project, one such strategy has been the clearing of firebreaks. Fire breaks are areas continually cleared of plants and weeds around fragments of forest or corridor edges which aim to prevent fire from damaging the trees. So far, 17.7km of firebreaks have been created as part of Project Ala.
Recently, the team has expanded their focus to fire prevention strategies as well as those of mitigation. These include mapping of recent fires, ratifying a local law, known as a dina, outlawing the starting of fire around corridors and forest edges, and holding fire prevention training with the local Forest Management Committees and communities surrounding Sainte Luce.
By collecting data pinpointing areas especially vulnerable to fires, SEED, and local Forest Management Committees will be able to identify and inform communities where they need to focus fire management techniques. In order to do this, the committees have taken on the responsibility of mapping illegal fires. Forest patrol officers, unfamiliar with the satellite images of the area, have been given training sessions to help familiarise them with aerial views of the corridors and the distances between key landmarks. Patrols can now record on a map the geographical location of fire threats. In time this data will allow us to pinpoint areas that are particularly vulnerable and increase the frequency of patrols and the size of fire breaks to mitigate the threat.
Alongside the mapping of illegal fires, Project Ala has also recently celebrated the success of ratifying a dina, which will protect the Ala corridors. The dina states that it is forbidden for anyone to smoke food (which is typically done as a form of food preservation) within the corridors. The dina also outlines the laws for tavy, a form of slash and burn agriculture prevalent in the Sainte Luce area. If landowners are to perform tavy, they must be accompanied by a member of the local forest patrol to monitor and help fully extinguish the fire. Although many of the threats mentioned above have been discussed in meetings and workshops, and are outlined on threat mitigation signboards surrounding the corridors, the dina means these rules can be enforced by the law and individuals who break the dina can be fined.
Local communities have clearly identified the need for fire prevention and mitigation as a priority. Project Ala therefore will therefore continue to build the ability of Forest Management Committees to prevent and mitigate fire, whilst also engaging the communities surrounding Sainte Luce in developing a wider community-led fire management strategy. This strategy will involve the testing of fire mitigation tools and techniques (such as fire beaters), community mass mobilisation events to share fire-fighting strategies, and fire safety training sessions to reduce the likelihood of household fires.
By working together with the local Forest Management Committees on both prevention, mitigation and managing fire we believe we have the best chance of protecting the corridors and the unique biodiversity of the Sainte Luce Littoral Forest.
References:
Wuebbles, D.J., D.W. Fahey, K.A. Hibbard, D.J. Dokken, B.C. Stewart, and T.K. Maycock, 2017 ‘Climate
Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment’ USGCRP, 1, 470
Armenteras, D. Gonzalez, T., Retana, J., 2013 ‘Forest fragmentation and edge influence on fire
occurrence and intensity under different management types in Amazon forests’ Biological
Conservation, 159, 73-79