Forest fires glow in Nilgiri Biosphere area

Forest fires of varying intensity have occurred in the protected areas in the Nilgiri  Biosphere Reserve over the last week even as summer is round the corner, a quick analysis of satellite data indicates.Among other areas, the fires have occurred in the wildlife sanctuaries of Bandipur and Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka. Outbreaks were also reported from the Wayanad Sanctuary in Kerala and the Mudumalai Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu during the week that ended on February 14. Most of the fires were noticed at the Kerala-Tamil Nadu-Karnataka tri-junction.A single instance of fire was recorded in the Eravikulam National Park in Kerala. The Bandipur and Nagarahole National Parks and the Wayanad and Mudumalai Sanctuaries fall in the core area of the environmentally sensitive Nilgiri Biosphere.Last year also fires had occurred in the protected areas of the Biosphere. . Almost all of forest fires are caused by humans, especially by people entering the protected areas illegally. Some of the fires recorded are the result of controlled burning by Forest Departments.The data regarding the fires have come from the MODIS Rapid Response System under the NASA-centred international Earth Observing System. Fire maps are supplied as part of the Fire Information for Resource Management System in order to enable managers of protected areas to react to fires .In its report of 2006, the National Forest Commission pointed out that evergreen forests subjected to a fire on a large scale have a changed complexion forever. The frequency of such fires is growing, it noted. Forest fires, often linked to excessive livestock grazing and careless human behaviour, destroy biodiversity. Fragmentation of wildlife habitats arising from loss of forest connectivity is a serious limiting factor for wildlife. Big fires are one of the major factors that cause fragmentation. The others are diversification of forest areas for developmental activity and loss of forest cover due to illicit felling and grazing, according to the Commission. Recent research on forest fires in the Western Ghats shows they have had significant impacts on species diversity and regeneration in the tropical dry deciduous forests. Species diversity declined by 50 to 60 per cent, while density of saplings declined by about 30 per cent under some conditions. In tropical moist deciduous ecosystems, there were substantial declines in species diversity, tree density, seedling and sapling densities in burned forests compared to the unburned forests, the findings indicate.

The Hindu, 18th  February 2009