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Worldwide, extensive tracts of tropical rainforests are burnt during El Nino droughts. Severe droughts have occurred previously without causing such extensive fires. This extensive burning is a result of forests becoming more fire-prone after disturbance mainly by logging.

2.Available information from southeast Asia and the Amazon rainforest landscapes suggest that the combined effects of logging, drought and fire increase the rates of tree, sapling and seedling mortality, truncate secondary succession and accelerate the rate of invasion of grasses, woody creepers, shrubs and exotics in tropical rainforests. In most cases the species composition is permanently altered leaving the regrowth in a burnt forest depauperate in species diversity and in regeneration of upper canopy tree species. Three aspects of forest wild animals’ ecology render them susceptible to the negative effects of fire. These include diet, territoriality, and shelter requirements.

3. Fire has been one of the main management challenges and is considered one of the major long-term threats to forest biodiversity in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Most fires spread to the park from the adjacent local community agricultural land. In light of human pressures resulting in forest fragmentation and potential climatic changes, the continued occurrence of fire in Bwindi is highly probable. This calls for an immediate fire control plan for the park.

4.Fire prevention and control is an integral part of protected area management. Fire control can be achieved by knowing the cause of fire and fire behaviour. Preventive measures are necessary to check on fire outbreaks and prepare to meet situations that may arise as and when a fire breaks out. Preventive measures include public education and good public relations, legislation, regulations for lighting fire in the park, firebreak establishment, provision and maintenance of appropriate equipment, training of park staff in fire suppression measures, fire season declaration, maintenance of forest trail system for quick movement of fire fighting team, allocation of sufficient funds to fire fighting, and an alert fire fighting organisation. To suppress wildfires while still small, a fire detection system is recommended. Once fire has broken out, a fire-fighting plan depends on fire behaviour, fuel available, wind direction and velocity. After fire suppression, an evaluation of the fire fighting process and damage to the forest must be done to avoid further fire outbreaks by developing appropriate management responses through lessons learnt.

Publication Year
2000

Report File