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IMPERATA GRASSLAND REHABILITATION USING AGROFORESTRY
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Chapter 3
Protection from Fire

3.5 Community education and enforcement

Fire education needs to reach the whole community, including children and others who may not have been involved in the community planning process. The education program should cover:

  1. The community plan, fire protection assessment, and reasons why the community has decided to protect certain areas from fire.

  2. Emphasis on how easy it is to prevent wildfires, compared to how difficult it is to stop a fire once it is large, or to replant after a fire.

  3. Fire-related rules adopted by the community: for example, limitations on fanners' burning their fields; how rules will be enforced; penalties.

  4. Agreements on cooperation for fire suppression.

  5. Current fire conditions, early warnings about drought, and whether burning is allowed by law or by the community.

Kalahan Education Foundation, Philippines

An effective model of a community-based fire protection program was started in the late 1970s at the Kalahan Education Foundation in Imugan, Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. The Imugan community uses all approaches in their fire protection program. To reduce the risk to the forest reserve, farmers clear ten-meter wide strips and plant Senna spectabilis trees (greenbreaks) along the forest boundaries. The village's fire-brigade also suppresses fires: everyone who is able rushes to a fire to help put it out when an alarm is sounded.

Wildfires are prevented by controlling traditional agricultural fires. Farmers must apply for a permit before clearing their farm plot. After they receive the permit, farmers clear their land under strict prescribed-burning regulations written by the Foundation members. Requirements include the following:

  • A two-meter wide firebreak must be cleared around the proposed burn area.

  • Burning can only take place during the early morning or late afternoon when there is little or no wind.

  • Before burning, farmers must notify their neighbors of the time, date, and location of the burn. Neighbors often help to assure a safe burn.

Each farmer is responsible for any damage to his or her neighbor's crops, trees, or buildings caused by wildfires escaping from his/her agricultural burns. When there is fire damage, the damages are reviewed at a village meeting and the settlement payment is set by the Foundation Board of Trustees. This payment usually takes the form of food or work, rarely cash.

The results of the Imugan wildfire prevention program have been dramatic. In the first year, the area damaged from wildfires was reduced by 90% (400 ha to 40 ha). 14,000 ha of Miscanthus grassland with patches of native forest is now returning to native secondary forest.