25 forest fires every day

posted on: Apr 1 2010 10:19 by Royston. Viewed 338 times.


The Dominican Republic is witnessing 25 fires per day which are put out by the forest fire brigades of the Department of the Environment, forcing the Ministry to start a campaign to prevent these fires.

The information was released by the Deputy Minister of Forest Resources, Ministry of Environment, Bernab� Ma��n, who said the campaign includes radio and television spots and workshops on forest fire prevention.

He said that among the leading causes of fires are the spread of fire by stray sparks and expansion of pastures and the carelessness of users of the forests who do not take the appropriate precautions against fire.

He also said one of the main problems is the tradition of burning trees for 'conuquismo'. This is the agricultural system in which trees are felled and burned on the land which is used for crops until the nutrients are exhausted after 4 or 5 years. The farmer makes no investment in the care or improvement of the land but simply moves on to the next area when the time comes.

He said the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has 55 outposts and 22 forest fire brigades specialized in this type of fire, plus 12 fire detection towers, located in the main critical points in forested areas with high probability of fires.

He reported that the campaign includes the development of fire education courses, some 60 of which have been offered so far, and added that the fire danger is not only for the months between February and April, and June and September, but all year round, and he is working in the training of foresters for such disasters.

"We have a fire prevention campaign that is being planned across the country, with which we are calling on the population to not burn our trees, and coincides with one of the longest dry spells we have had, which threatens to extend for several more months," said the official.

"We are calling on councils to integrate the work of forest fire prevention," said the engineer Manon Rossi.

Manon said it was sad that 85 percent of fires occurring in the country are caused by man.
He added that law 64-00 covers the burning of trees and revealed that around 4 convictions are brought every day.

He said the Ministry of Environment annually invests nearly 21 million pesos in prevention and control of forest fires.