Nairobi: Every year, fire affects an estimated 350 million hectares of land, with damage to property, livelihoods and frequently loss of lives, the United National Foood and Agriculture Organization (FA0) stated. Uncontrolled vegetation fires also contribute to global warming, air pollution, desertification and loss of biodiversity.
“Fire prevention is one of the most effective counter measures, and efficient fire monitoring can help in early warning, intervention decision-making and measuring impacts,” said the an agency.
Developing countries are often the most susceptible to the damaging impacts of fire which causes loss of human lives and property and destruction of natural resources. In Ethiopia and South Sudan, fire destroys millions of hectares of land each year. Between 2000 and 2008, over 200 000 fire incidents were reported in Sudan, while in Ethiopia, the number of incidents registered was over 400,000 in the same period.
FAO, working together with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) use satellites to monitor fires by creating a fire early warning system, providing data on forest fire location and estimating loss of biomass and biodiversity. At the same time, field measurements are essential to validate satellite data.
Involvement of local communities is crucial to reduce wildland fires and their impact. For this reason, most FAO field projects in fire management include activities with local communities to assist in fire prevention, monitoring and control. These include awareness raising campaigns, capacity building and equipping of community fire brigades.
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