Forest Fires in India, Types, Causes, Impact, Initiatives

A forest fire (wildfire or bushfire)is an uncontrolled and non-prescribed combustion or burning of plants in a natural setting such as a forest, grassland, brushland, or tundra. It consumes natural fuels and spreads based on environmental conditions like wind and topography. Forest fires in an uncontrolled manner are considered a disaster. Forest fires have both positive and negative impacts. On the one hand, they have many ecological benefits; on the other hand, they destroy valuable forest resources and have a negative influence on climate change. 

The Forest Survey of India states that nearly 36 per cent of India’s forests are prone to frequent fires. The forest fire season in India lasts from November to June. 

Types of Forest Fires

There are three basic types of forest fires: ground, surface, and crown. Wildfires often involve all three types of fire, with their proportion varying depending on fuel, topography, and weather conditions. Changes in these factors can cause a ground fire to evolve into a surface fire, a surface fire to escalate into a crown fire, or vice versa.

• Ground fires: Ground fires begin in deep accumulations of humus, peat, and other dead vegetation that have dried enough to ignite. They spread slowly and generate little smoke.
• Surface fires: Surface fires are those burning in surface fuels such as litter, downed woody debris, and low-level living plants. They can grow in intensity to scorch or even consume the forest canopy.
• Crown fires: Crown fires destroy forest canopy fuels, which include live and dead foliage/branches, tree lichens, and tall shrubs that are located well above the surface fuels. They are usually ignited by surface fire.

Major Forest Fire-prone Areas in India 

According to the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water research, more than 62 per cent of Indian states are vulnerable to high-intensity forest fires.Nearly 10.66% of areas of Forest Cover in India are under extremely to very highly fire-prone zones, as per the Forest Survey of India (FSI).

• Every year, significant areas of forest are impacted by fires of different intensity and extent. Based on the forest inventory records, 54.40% of forests in India are exposed to occasional fires, 7.49% to moderately frequent fires, and 2.40% to high incidence levels while 35.71% of India’s forests have not yet been exposed to fires of any real significance.
• Extreme fire-prone states: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Uttarakhand.
• As per theFSI State of Forest 2021 Report, while the total forest cover in India increased by 0.48 per cent between 2013 and 2021, forest fires detected went up by 186 per cent in the same period.

Causes of Forest Fires

Forest fires are caused by natural as well as man-made causes. Natural causes are primarily related to climatic conditions such as temperature, wind speed, and direction, level of moisture in soil and atmosphere, and duration of dry spells. 

• Natural causes:
  • Fuel: A fuel's composition, including moisture level, chemical makeup and density, determines its degree of flammability. Dry leaves are fuel for forest fires.
    • The chemical makeup of fuels influences combustion, with some plants, shrubs, and trees containing oils or resins promoting combustion, like pine trees in Himalayas forests.
    • Moisture: Live trees usually contain a great deal of moisture while dead logs contain very little. The moisture content and distribution of fuels define how quickly a fire can spread and how intense or hot a fire may become.
  • Wind velocity: Winds bring a fresh supply of oxygen to the fire as well as push the fire towards a new fuel source.
    • The friction of bamboo swaying caused by wind velocity and rolling stones causes sparks to ignite extremely flammable leaf litter on the forest floor.
  • Lightning: Many forest fires start from natural causes, such as lightning which sets trees on fire.
  • Volcanic Lava: Eruptions from burning lava can ignite fields as far as one kilometer, though not prevalent in India.
• Man-made causes: It has been estimated that more than 90% of forest fires in India are man-made.
  • Carelessness: Human-caused fires result from unattended campfires, debris burning, equipment use and malfunctions, and negligently discarded cigarettes and arson or intentional fires.
  • Climate change: Human-induced climate change increases hot and dry conditions that help fires spread faster, burn longer, and rage more intensely.
  • Other causes: The practice of shifting cultivation, the use of fires by villagers to ward off wild animals, and fires lit intentionally by people around the forest for cooking and warmth are also the causes of forest fires.

Impacts of Forest Fires

Limited naturally occurring forest fires are desirable in a forest ecosystem due to their ecological benefits.

Positive Impacts

There are many ecological benefits of forest fires. 

• Cleaning the forest floor: Fire removes surface litter and debris converting them into nutrients. Crown wildfires also remove foliage and leaves, thus allowing sunlight to reach the ground which results in the growth of new plants.
  • There is less competition for nutrients, sunlight, water, and space allowing fire-dependent species to thrive.
• Nutrient cycling: Forest fires cause the flow of nutrients from trees to the soils that can help new plants grow. In this way, fire increases the soil fertility.
  • It improves vegetation conditions and brings new growth, which decreases competition for food in an open wildlife area like a forest.
• Plant germination: Some seeds only germinate when products of combustion are present like ash and smoke. Examples include the alder trees, the Italian buckthorn, and the Clematis.
  • Some plants, like lodgepoles and jackpines, need a combination of sunlight and extreme heat to germinate. Seeds from these tree species are enclosed and must be melted by fire to be released.
• Animals depend on fire: Even some animals depend on fire. 
  • Food dependency: The sole food source for the endangered Karner blue butterfly caterpillar is a plant called wild lupine which requires fire to maintain an ecosystem balance in which it can thrive.
  • Habitat for Animals: A controlled fire creates hollow logs that forest animals can use for expanded nesting and shelter options.

Negative Impacts

• Reduces forest cover: Forest fires substantially reduce the vegetation cover. Whether it occurs in a forest or a savannah, fire burns most of the vegetation.
• Damage to forest’s productive power: Repeated fires degenerate valuable evergreen forests into inferior deciduous or grassland. 
  • Valuable species disappear and their place is taken by other fire-hardy species.
• Causes floods: Fire destroys ground cover and undergrowth, causing devastating floods in forest regions. 
• Loss of livelihood: Forest fires prove to be detrimental for tribal people and rural poor, who are directly dependent upon collecting non-timber forest products from the forest.
• Loss to wildlife and birds: Forest fires cause loss of habitat for the wild fauna making them susceptible to death due to poaching, adverse weather conditions or killing by predator species. 
  • Many wildlife species are protected under the dense canopy of forests, they are made vulnerable by forest fires.
• Soil erosion: Forest fires leave the soil bare to the action of natural elements i.e., sun, wind, and rain that result in soil erosion. 
• Air pollution: Wildfires typically release smoke, various gases, and soot that contribute to air pollution.
• Role in Climate Change: Vegetation loss due to forest fires aggravates global warming as the forests are sinks of carbon dioxide. 

Measures to Mitigate Forest Fires

The incidence of forest fires in the country is on the increase, and more areas are affected every year. Considering the severe nature of the problem, it is necessary to make some significant improvements in theforest fire management strategy.

• Education and environmental improvement: It can help prevent human-caused fires. 
  • It will comprise silvicultural activities, engineering projects, community involvement, education, and enforcement.
• Removal of surface litter: Pine needles and dry leaves from the ground spread fire quickly once they catch fire. They should be removed periodically involving the government as well as local populations.
• Establishment of watch towers: It candetect fires in remote places, allowing staff to be warned early.
• Awareness: Nomadic people should be awarenot to carry fire-starting substances into woods and to ensure that any fires created for cooking, driving away wild animals, and so on are thoroughly extinguished.
• Advanced equipment: The use of advanced fire extinguishing equipmentto suppress forest fires in inaccessible places is required. 
  • It is beneficial where transporting water is difficult. 
• Well-equipped personnel: The establishment of special Forest Fire control rooms staffed by trained and well-equipped personnel to allow for immediate action and coordination would be helpful in this regard. 
• Use of Technology: Remote sensing technology is to be given due importance in fire detection. 
  • A National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) and Fire Forecasting System are to be developed for successful fire management and administration.

Government Initiatives to Control Forest Fires

Fire prevention, detection, and suppression are state responsibilities. The Central Government has periodically developed policies, plans, and finances for the states. The following are the initiatives of the government to control forest fires: 

• Forest Protection Division: It is headed by the DIG of Forests and is responsible for forest fire management at the central level.
• National Action Plan on Forest Fire: The MOEFCC has prepared a National Action Plan on Forest Fire to minimise forest fires. The plan comprises taking action byinforming, enabling, and empowering forest fringe communities and incentivising them to work in tandem with the Forest Departments.
• Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme: It is a centrally sponsoredscheme that aims at the overall protection of forests from fire. 
  • The scheme involves the establishment and maintenance of fire lines, construction of water storage structures, purchase of modern fire fighting equipment, and awareness campaigns on forest fire control.
• Forest Fire Alert: FSI, Dehradun disseminates forest fire alerts by using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro- Radiometer (MODIS) sensors aboard Aqua and Terra satelliteson a near-real-time basis to the State Forest Departments and other registered users in the States through SMS and Email.
• Disaster Management Plan on Forest Fire: Its goal is to identify the actions and roles required to plan for and respond to any catastrophic event caused by a forest fire in a coordinated manner. This plan will guide all relevant agencies within and outside the MOEFCC. 
• FSI Van Agni Geo-Portal: The Forest Protection Division is using the FSI Van Agni Geo-Portal to monitor large forest fires in various States and UTs.
• Training of NDRF: The Forest Fire Mitigation Training Programme for National Disaster Response Force Functionaries (NDRF), has been undertaken to provide knowledge on prevention, control, and response actions for handling forest fires.
• The Gandhinagar Implementation Roadmap (GIR) and the Gandhinagar Information Platform (GIP): They were launched at India's G20 summit and are centered around the restoration of landscapes of forest fire-impacted areas and mining-affected areas, to reinforce the G20 Global Land Initiative (GLI) implementation.

Forest Fires FAQs

Q1. What is a wildfire?

Ans. A wildfire is an unplanned, unwanted fire in natural areas, often caused by humans, either accidentally or intentionally, and can originate from natural sources like lightning.

Q2. What are the natural causes of forest fires?

Ans. Many forest fires start from natural causes such as lightning which sets trees on fire. High atmospheric temperatures and dryness (low humidity) offer favorable circumstances for a fire to start.

Q3. What are the types of forest fires?

Ans. There are three types of forest fires; ground fires, crown fires, and surface fires. Ground fires primarily occur in decayed roots, while surface fires burn loose needles, moss, lichen, shrubs, small trees, and saplings, while crown fires burn forest canopy fuels.

Q4. How can forest fires be controlled?

Ans. Forest fires can be controlled by the removal of surface litter, pine needles, and dry leaves from the surface, establishment of watch towers and fire lines and awareness among nomic people, prompt detection, use of modern fire extinguishing tools, etc.