Forest fires are burning up Bhutan’s wilderness

At COP21 in Paris last year, Bhutan was lauded for its Intended Nationally Determined Commitments, described as “the most ambitious pledge” in the world. A large part of this climate pledge was made possible because Bhutan is one of the most forested countries in the world. According to the department of forests, 81.27% of Bhutan’s land area is forested. 70.46% covered by trees and 10.81 covered by shrubs. In fact 19,676.57 sq kms of Bhutan’s total land area of 38,394 sq kms, more than 51%, fall under protected areas. Furthermore, Bhutan’s Constitution, adopted on July 18, 2008, mandates that 60% of the country will remain under forest cover forever.

Unfortunately these positive aspects are currently under threat, as raging forest fires eat up Bhutan’s forest cover. The ecological devastation they leave behind has many consequences, from destroying infrastructure, to threatening wildlife habitats, and even endangering Bhutan’s run-of-the-river hydropower plants – a major pillar of its energy, financial and environment policy.

Kinley Tshering, an official for forest fire management programme, at the department of forest and park services is currently estimating how many thousand acres of forests Bhutan has lost in the last few weeks. Since several forest fires were reported within this week, the total figure could be known only after carrying out a ground survey, he told thethirdpole.net. On an average more than 10,000 acres of forest cover is lost to fire annually, he said, with some forest fires lasting for days, or even weeks.

He told thethirdpole.net that most forest fires were caused because of human error. This could be due to burning of agricultural debris, children playing with igniting materials, smokers disposing of burning matches or cigarettes, picnickers, cattle herders, road side workers, campfires by hikers, or even by the humble electric short circuit. Such a vast range of reasons means that officials often find it hard to identify the culprit behind a particular fire.

The department of forest recently issued a monetary fine to the Bhutan Power Corporation after a major forest fire burned up areas above Chuzom and Paro. It was found that the fire started due to short circuit from power transmission lines. The fire lasted for over a week, and it took more than 500 men to finally contain it.

Long term impacts

Most people are unaware of the long-term impacts of forest fires on the environment, rivers and the ecosystem. While there are short-term benefits of forest fire for seed germination and pasture development, it has more negative effects in the longer term. Unlike plants and shrubs, which will grow back relatively quickly, the ecosystem takes several years to get back to the same situation, Kinley Tshering added. According to one article in the Ecology, Environment and Conservation Journal, specific species of rare orchids were completely destroyed, as the micro-climate for such organisms was annihilated in forest fires.

Tshering said that forest fires also damage the soil stability, leading to soil erosion and increasing surface run off. This impacts the river system, as the run-off into the river introduces greater siltation. The heavier silt load in the rivers leads to wear and tear on the turbine blades in hydropower projects, which are the major income generator for Bhutan.

Forest officials in Wangdue district said that few months after a forest fire in Wangdue’s Athang village, a 7 kilometre stretch of farm road slowly fell apart due to loose soil. This phenomenon has been reported from several other parts of Bhutan. For a country that is composed of seven mountain valleys, road construction is hard work, and the destruction of roads comes at a high cost to the residents of the most remote areas, who are often the least economically secure.

Bhutan’s mountainous terrain makes both pinpointing the cause of forest fires difficult, as well as fighting the fires. The rocky terrain means that fire fighters are at risk from loose stones tumbling down from above. Almost all the fires start from the base of the mountain and when it reaches on the upper hill water scarcity becomes an added problem. The heavy equipment, plus protective clothing and boots, adds to the strain of men having to climb mountains to fight the fire.

Dr Bhaskar Singh Karky, resource economist with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Nepal, added that forest fires do not respect national boundaries. Residents of surrounding countries are also affected. Even if the fire may be contained within the borders, the smoke, with all its deadly effects, is not.

Contributing causes

One of the unstated reasons for the increase in forest fires is the rapid urbanisation and economic growth of Bhutan. In the last nine years Bhutan’s GDP has grown unevenly, but at an average of 7.44% every year. A large amount of lumber has been cut, both to sell, as well as to build houses for newly prosperous households. The annual report of the Natural Resources Development Corporation’s annual report stated that it produced 1.604 million cubic feet of timber in 2014. This figure does not include the timber cut for the building of personal houses.

It is not just timber that is being felled in Bhutan – with all the dangers of possible forest fires that such activities raise. Mining has expanded dramatically over the years. In 2008-2012 there were 33 mines and 48 quarries either leased or operating in Bhutan, but just between the years 2009 to 2010, the growth rate of the sector was 8.51%. Much of this activity was due to the demand generated from Bhutan’s mega hydropower projects, which are scheduled to continue to be built for years to come, with ten projects scheduled to be completed by 2020, to generate 10,800 MW of power out of an estimated 23,760 MW that Bhutan could produce. Mining activities, carried out as they are within, or near, forested areas, present a constant threat of sparking off forest fires.

Saving the future

Bhutan is not the only place where forest fires have started to occur more often, and part of the reason may be due to climate change. With more fluctuations in weather drier summers make the forests more vulnerable. But while Bhutan can do little about global climate patterns beyond making sure to fulfil its climate pledges, it can try to cut down human error as a reason. For this reason Bhutan’s forest department is primarily relying on an advocacy and awareness campaign to inform its citizens on how to avoid accidentally starting forest fires. The forest fire management section under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests conducted a door-to-door forest fire prevention campaign in the western districts of Thimphu, Wangdue and Punakha. The citizens in the area were briefed on three key issues of responsibility, burning things safely and penalties. In addition they were also given education materials.

It is too early to tell whether such campaigns will have an effect, but Bhutan also has a long history of planting trees. The NRDCL, having produced a great deal of timber, also invests in afforestation and reforestation activities. In 2014 it spent BNT 6.2 million ($92,000) on such activities. Tree planting has been promoted as an emblem of national pride, and in 2015 a group of 100 volunteers broke the world record of most trees planted in an hour. And on 6 March 2016, on the occasion of the birth of Bhutan’s new crown prince, Bhutan went on another tree planting spree, planting 108,000 saplings across all 20 of its districts.

These initiatives give hope that the mountain slopes of Bhutan will remain green, and keep the forest fires at bay.

This article was first published on The Third Pole.