Forest fire in Datça threatens 100 hectares

3 September 2006

published by english.sabah.com.tr

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Turkey — A forest fire which broke out in the Datça district of Muğla has affected 100 hectares of forest land. 

Having not yet been taken under control, fire brigades are still working to put out the fire.

A forest fire which broke out yesterday in Datça threatens 100 hectares of forest land, due to wind. 

Mugla Forest District Manager Ibrahim Çiftçi stated that the powerful wind has caused trouble and fire brigades have spent intensive efforts to put out the fire.

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Goats Chow Down While Lowering Wildfire Risk Wildfires

26 September 2006

published by dailycal.org

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Berkeley, CA, USA — Campus researchers and city residents are using both traditional and modern ways to improve fire prevention in Berkeley after heavy winter rains led to increased vegetation in the area.

A Web site developed earlier this month by UC Berkeley researchers gives residents detailed information about the risk of fire in their neighborhood.

But only a few weeks prior to the launch of the Web site, campus officials finished the first stage in clearing fire-prone grass from the hills in an all-natural way-using a herd of hundreds of goats.

UC Berkeley and other landowners have been using goats to control fire-prone vegetation for over a decade, said Tom Klatt, manager of the UC Berkeley Office of Emergency Preparedness.

As many as six herds of 350 goats each could be seen in the Berkeley Hills this summer. They were rented by UC Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the East Bay Regional Park District, among others, Klatt said.

The goats are set loose within areas contained by portable electric fences, where they eat grass and thistles commonly involved in the beginning of destructive wildfires, he said.

“The goats are a wonderful fuel management tool,” said Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief David Orth. “In areas where the goats grazed, fires have been less significant and easier to control.”

Maintenance of dry grass in the hills is important because it burns and spreads the flames quickly, making it hard for firefighters to get in front of the fire, Klatt said.

Goats have been in particularly high demand in Berkeley in the past two years, each of which had more than the usual amount of rainfall and increased vegetation in the summer, Klatt said.

UC Berkeley, which has used goats to maintain flammable grasses since the early ’90s, rented its herd this August from an Orinda-based goat ranch called Goats R Us, Klatt said.

The ranch maintains 6,500 goats year-round, including Spanish goats and angora crosses, said ranch owner Terri Oyarzun.

“We have a smorgasbord of goats,” she said.

Landowners began using the goats because they were more cost-effective for keeping dry grasses under control than using groups of people with weed-whackers, Klatt said.

“Goats are less expensive per acre of light fuels,” he said. “What you’re left with are goat pellets. The fuel is removed.”

In another effort to reduce the risk of brush fires, Campus officials announced the launch of a new fire-prevention tool open to the public.

The Fire Information Engine Toolkit, a Web site launched Sept. 13 by the UC Berkeley Center for Fire Research and Outreach, allows users to fill out an online form and receive feedback about the fire risk of a specific building or area.

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On brink of worst fire season ever

25 September 2006

published by www.news.com.au

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Australia — Australia is on the brink of a horror bushfire season, a bushfire expert has warned.

With the Bureau of Meteorology reporting the hottest, driest August on record, these extreme conditions, teamed with a severe drought across most of the country, is posing a major threat to people living in bush areas, Kevin O’Loughlin from the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre, in Melbourne, said today.

Mr O’Loughlin said the massive fires, which blazed across NSW at the weekend – combined with bad fires in Victoria last week and the 200 fires already reported in Tasmania this month – could be a taste of things to come.

“Just looking at what we’ve seen already, this is a major concern,” Mr O’Loughlin said.

“It’s a major concern that fire seasons seem to be starting earlier and lasting longer.

“We’ve got to get a greater understanding on this, on the frequency of fires, the earlier start to the season and if there’s any connection to climate change.”

Mr O’Loughlin said the dangers were heightened by the increasing number of people living in areas at risk of bushfire.

“If you’re talking about the driest August on record and the warmest August on record and you set that against a period of drought, then you would have to be concerned that this could be a bad fire season,” Mr O’Loughlin said.

“The agencies, no doubt, will be taking precautions and would be stressing that people who lived in properties at risk of bushfires make very, very serious preparations for potentially a very bad season.”

Meanwhile, Victorian Environment Minister John Thwaites said 200 seasonal firefighters – more than the usual number – were being hired and were starting work one month earlier this year to help prepare for the fire season.

“We have been doing fuel reduction burning and seeking to do it earlier, but the conditions are so dry and so adverse that we’re already having to wind down fuel reduction burning,” Mr Thwaites told reporters.

Firefighters were now in the process of building trails and fire breaks in key areas.

“We are very concerned that this summer will be one of our worst bushfire risks ever.

“The state is extremely dry. We’ve had 10 years of below-average rainfall. Areas like the Otways and the Dandenongs, which weren’t burnt in the 2003 fires, are particularly atrisk.”

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Indonesia Puts Out Forest Fires in Borneo, Reduces Smoke Haze 

12 September 2006

published by www.bloomberg.com

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Indonesia — Indonesia has put out most of the forest fires in its part of Borneo island after inducing rain with cloud seeding, minimizing the spread of a smoke haze that’s threatening air quality in the country and its neighbors.

The number of hotspots in the provinces of Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan on Borneo has dropped to fewer than 100 from as many as 600 the previous week, Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban told reporters today. Hotspots are areas about 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) wide with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The haze occurs almost every year during the dry season as farmers on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo clear land by setting fires to trees and bushes. Smoke choked much of Southeast Asia in 1997 and 1998, causing economic losses of almost $9 billion as travelers shunned the region and health-care costs increased. The haze also reduced visibility in the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The government has put aside a budget of 1 billion rupiah to 2 billion rupiah ($219,000) for the cloud-seeding program that began in late August, which involves spraying silver iodide particles into storm clouds.

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Forests vital for economic growth

6 September 2006

published by www.buanews.gov.za

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Cape Town, South Africa — Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Lindiwe Hendricks, says forests and trees play an important role in rural, economic development and in sustaining the livelihoods of the poor.

Speaking during Arbor Week celebrations in Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, Ms Hendricks said Government needed to do more to create jobs and to help uplift people, especially those from rural areas, through trees and forestry.

Themed “Plant a Tree – Grow our Future” this year’s Arbor Week highlights the value of trees in ensuring sustainable economic development and how trees and forests contribute towards creating a better life for all.

“In adopting this theme we are recognising that forests and trees are a very important part of the lives of people in rural areas, and that as the Government we need to do more,” said the Minister.

She said expanding forests created employment and business opportunities, as well as actively contributed towards the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa.

“However, trees and forests take many years to grow so an investment today will yield rewards for our children – like we nurture our children, we need to nurture our trees and forests to protect them, particularly against damage from fires,” she advised.

The Eastern Cape is a region that has been recognised as being of national importance in the future development of the forestry sector. In this regard, the minister called on leaders, government officials and communities to work together in making this potential a reality and a success.

Over the past few years work has been done to increase the economic impact of forestry in the Eastern Cape.

Last year, the former Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Buyelwa Sonjica announced the launch of the Strategic Environmental Assessment for Forestry in the Eastern Cape.

To this end, a study has been concluded as the first step in the department’s programme for the development of the forestry sector in the Eastern Cape.

The study confirmed that the province had the potential to support at least 100 000 hectares (ha) of new plantation forestry. This is to be developed over a 10 to 20 year period and will require close collaboration among three spheres of government, traditional leaders, and communities.

According to Ms Hendricks, this development will create 5 000 new jobs on plantations in the province and will generate returns of more than R500 million per annum for participating communities.

“This province has a wealth of indigenous forest resources, high in biodiversity. My department is making a concerted effort to make the benefits of forests and trees accessible to all our people,” she added.

Another initiative underway in the provincial sector is the Participatory Forest Management Programme. This initiative involves local people, including women and the youth in the management of their natural resources.

Regarding the protection of the resources, the minister urged all stakeholders and communities to make the control of fires a priority.

“While we are spending resources on developing new forests, the existing plantations are under threat from uncontrolled burning and arson,” she said.

It is estimated that annually, veld and forest fires cost the economy R3 billion to R5 billion, resulting in job losses and withdrawal of investment from the province.

The department has established an active unit that will assist farmers, forestry companies and communities to set up Fire Protection Associations in an attempt to proactively address theproblem.

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