Jalukie, March 7 (MExN): A forest fire awareness campaign was held at Forest Range office, Jalukie on March 5 with attendance of stakeholders of 25 villages from Jalukie Valley.
Dr. Sentitula, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Peren district highlighted the importance of fire and how forest fire causes imbalances in nature and endangers biodiversity by reducing faunal and floral wealth.
Environmental causes of forest fire are largely related to climatic conditions such as temperature, wind speed and direction, level of moisture in soil and atmosphere and duration of dry spells, she highlighted, adding other natural causes are the friction of bamboos swaying due to high wind velocity and rolling stones that result in sparks setting off fires in highly inflammable leaf litter on the forest floor.
Forest fire also results from human activity as well as methods of forest management, she added, according to a press release. “These can be intentional or unintentional. Fires are a major cause of forest degradation and have wide ranging adverse ecological, economic and social impacts,” Dr. Sentitula added.
Meanwhile, Hainkieng, chairperson of Old Jalukie Village challenged all the village chairpersons to act as Forest Ranger Officers and Gaon Buras as Foresters and in unison they will control the spread of forest fire and at the end of season report to the Divisional Forest Office their success stories.
The chief guest for the campaign, Dr. Kenei Miachieo (IFS), Conservator of Forests (STC), Kohima highlighted the general forest management and encouraged the stakeholders to initiate and protect the forest. Pointing out the role of village councils in forest management, he encouraged the villages to have community reserves which will act as banks of natural resources in the days to come. Dr. Kenei also encouraged the villagers to adopt forest plantation and stressed the ill effects of logging and hunting in their jurisdiction.
The presentation was followed by an analytical deliberation where the villagers shared their willingness to protect and conserve the forest, the press release stated.
