The system, which was successfully piloted over the last year, was officially launched on the last day of a three-day regional workshop organized at the ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu. [break]The system, which the ICIMOD says is the first of its kind in South Asia region, uses active fire data generated by the ICIMOD´s MODIS receiving station for near real-time detection of forest fires in any part of Nepal.
Earlier, to help the system work more effectively, the ICIMOD had set up the MODIS receiving station at its headquarters. The MODIS station receives active fire data from two satellites of the NASA - Terra and Acqua - that alternatively fly over Nepal every day.
The system automatically sends forest fire notifications through SMSes and e-mails to around 200 subscribers including District Forest Officers (DFOs) of all 75 districts and local focal persons of Federation of Community Forest Users´ Group Nepal (FECOFUN).
In a press statement on Friday, the ICIMOD also said that it is planning to replicate Nepal´s forest fire detection system in other countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
Wild fires are a major threat to conservation of forests in Nepal. Fires have been destroying thousands of hectares of forest apart from damaging rare species and biodiversity in Nepal every year.
Speaking on the last day of the workshop that saw participants from countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Nepal as well as experts from the United Nations Forest Service and the NASA, Dr KC Poudel, secretary at MoFSC, stressed the need to develop forest adaptation strategies under changing climate change scenarios.
“Changing climate scenarios call for different approaches to forest resource management," said Dr Poudel. "The technology and know-how on geospatial support systems that ICIMOD and its partners have shared with the Ministry and other relevant departments will play a major role in improving the management of Nepal´s valuable forest resources.”
Meanwhile, the ICIMOD announced that the 2010 Nepal Land Cover Database will be made public for validation through a crowd-sourcing application on its online Mountain GeoPortal.
Basanta Shrestha, Regional Program Manager of Mountain Environment Regional Information System (MENRIS) program at the ICIMOD, said, “The 2010 Nepal land cover database will provide the basis for natural resources accounting at the national level”. ICIMOD has completed land cover mapping and change assessments in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan.
Transmission line project blamed for forest fire
MAKAWANPUR: District forest Office, Makawanpur has sought compensation from the Hetauda-Bardaghat 220 kV transmission line project for trees burnt down in a recent forest fire. The forest office has not only accused the project of negligence but has also sought clarification from the under-construction transmission project. It has also formed a committee to investigate into the damages caused by the forest fire.
According to assistant forest officer Thir Bahadur Karki, the probe team led by Under-secretary Badri Bahadur Karki will study if the forest fire was caused by negligence of the transmission line project. Meanwhile, Gulmi chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Friday enforced a shutdown in Tamghas Bazaar protesting the locals´ indifference to incidents of forest fire in Resunga area.
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