Forests are important for the sustainability of human beings and wildlife around the world. Forests that are managed effectively enhance the welfare of people and animals. Forest fires are one of the current challenges that are affecting the sustainability of human and plant life besides climate changes. The incidences of forest fires have risen over the past years. However, the rates of forest fires are expected to increase in the subsequent periods. In this case, there is a need for better information and knowledge on the future risks of forest fires. There is a need for acquiring deep insights in the area of strategies of fire prevention. Fire prevention requires more attention through analyzing the current trends. The strategies to fire prevention are cost-effective. Forest fires have become a major concern in the world and it is prudent to analyze the topic to determine the appropriate recommendations.
The scope of this study is limited to strategies for preventing forest fires which include awareness, network building, and training (see chart 1). The research will not include the causes of fire but the prevention strategies. The data will be retrieved from articles that focus on prevention strategies. The articles or journals must be published within the past five years.
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Research Objective
What are the preventive strategies of fire outbreaks in the forested areas?
Chart 1: Framework for prevention strategies of forest fires
Training
The firefighting agents need the training to improve their capacity in preventing forest fires. The firefighters can be trained on the nature and detection of forest fires. Training can focus on avoiding places that can emerge forest fires. Volunteers can receive training to prevent forest fires. The aim of training the volunteers is to establish the network in the country (Forest Fire Prevention and Education, n.d). The training focuses on the best responses to forest fires.
Awareness
It is important to create awareness on preventing forest fires. The fire outbreaks cause damage to wildlife and plant sustenance. The residents should be aware of the forest fire which increases their interest in establishing the prevention methods. The forest owners need to be aware of the prevention methods of reducing outbreaks (Forest Fire Prevention and Education, n.d). By creating awareness of the prevention of forest fires, the citizens will enroll in training or create interest groups.
Network Building
Creating teams is important in establishing relationships between the residents. Through forming teams, the members can implement the approaches to the prevention of forest fires. Network building can involve holding meetings to discuss the prevention methods for forest fires. In addition, the residents can establish proper communication channels to facilitate the exchange of ideas (Forest Fire Prevention Education, n.d). Network building establishes the relationship among the citizens which improve the implementation process of the prevention techniques.
Subject
The project focuses on areas with forests and nearby locations. The areas are likely to be affected after the fire outbreak. However, there are forested areas that are not affected by fire including those near the river, lakes, or swamps. Many incidences of forest fires occur along the eclipse perimeter. The fires spread easily in areas with strong winds. It is essential to analyze the areas that are prone to fire such as mountains. The paper will cover the possible danger that can be encountered by firefighters when approaching areas with slopes and valleys. Typically, forest fires spread easily in mountainous areas. Further, the areas with dry woodland or along deserts are prone to fire. The data in this study will be retrieved from article and journals that focus on fire prevention strategies. Subsequently, the researcher will select the articles randomly from the internet but there are no specific websites for retrieving the sources.
Purpose of the Subject
The subject of the study focuses on the topic’s area of interest. The research subject defines the areas that are affected by forest fires. The sample contains sources that focus on prevention methods of forest fires. The paper contains a specific subject that is aligned with the main theme of the topic. Sources were selected from the internet because the researcher might encounter challenges in collecting first-hand information from the residents. The forest fires are not frequent but basing the facts from past research is important.
Study Methods
The document collection method is appropriate for gathering information from the field. The sources were selected from the internet randomly. The search words included preventing and forest fires. The purposive random sampling method is suitable in this case. The sources are selected on the basis of their characteristics. Only three articles are selected in this study. The selection was based on various principles where generalizations of prevention of forest fires are made. All the documents contained information on forest fires and outline the prevention techniques. The sources were published within the past five years. The resources met the characteristics of purpose random method. The qualitative research method was used in the study to assess the data.
Analysis Present Research
The data on preventing forest fires is mixed. Ferreira et al. (2015) found that ex-ante prevention strategies are effective in preventing forest fires. The scholars used the document analysis method to assess data from different articles and journals. The researcher identified various prevention strategies which include forest planning, hillslope barriers, channel treatments, recommended fire forestry and restoration of the ecosystem. The purpose of conducting the research was to establish a cheap prevention method. Ferreira et al. (2015) claimed that forest fires were common in the Mediterranean areas. North et al. (2015) found that the appropriate prevention strategy is reforming the policies for safeguarding the forests. The authors claim that the residents have been disregarding the forest policies and there is a need for reforming them. The researchers recommended that the national plans should be revised to change the incentives that can influence the prevention strategies. The Europa report indicates that that the appropriate fire prevention methods include network building, awareness, and training. The scope of the research was Estonia where the researchers used empirical data to support the facts. The researchers assessed the cluster information of Estonia to determine the effectiveness of the report. The Europa report is strong because the researchers collected empirical data to support the facts. Further, the scholars established the effectiveness of the strategies and it was found that they could reduce the forest fires. The study conducted by Ferreira et al. (2015) is not reliable because it lacks empirical and conceptual information. The research presented by North et al. (2015) lacks credibility because the facts are not supported by empirical data. Further, scholars do not give deep insights into the prevention of forest fires.
Recommendation for Further Research
Researchers should conduct further research on the causes and effects of the forest fires. By assessing the causes and consequences of fires, the researchers will make the recommendations for the topic. The researcher should focus on getting empirical information regarding forest fires. Few articles on the prevention of forest fires contain empirical data to support the arguments and make suitable findings. Further, the researchers can focus on areas along the coasts or water bodies that are prone to fire.
In conclusion, forests are essential to human, animal, and plant lives. The incidences of forest fires have been increasing over the past years. Previous research has not provided adequate information on the prevention methods of forest fires. Thus, there is a need for conducting a deeper analysis to identify the appropriate prevention methods.
References
Ferreira, A. J. D., Alegre, S. P., Coelho, C. O. A., Shakesby, R. A., Páscoa, F. M., Ferreira, C. S. S., ... & Ritsema, C. (2015). Strategies to prevent forest fires and techniques to reverse degradation processes in burned areas. Catena , 128 , 224-237.
Forest Fire Prevention and Education. ec. Europa. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showFile&rep=file&fil=LIFE08_INF_EE_000260_LAYMAN.pdf
North, M. P., Stephens, S. L., Collins, B. M., Agee, J. K., Aplet, G., Franklin, J. F., & Fulé, P. Z. (2015). Reform forest fire management. Science , 349 (6254), 1280-1281.
