20140426 Nepal Fire wipes out huge swathes of forests
Nepal Apr 26 2014 “Forest”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire wipes out huge swathes of forests
Updated: 2014-04-26-22:03
RAMECHHAP: A wildfire has destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest land in Ramechhap. A fire that cowherds had lit for good growth of grass took the form of wildfire destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest areas and medicinal herbs in Ramechhap, Manthali, Pakarbas, Bhatauli, Gothgaun, Rampur, Phulashi, Sukajor, Himganga, Gelu, and Chanakhu among other VDCs of the district. Dry leaves enabled the forest fires to spread quickly. Kalyan Budhathoki, a member of Babiyakharka Community Forest, said while valuable medicinal herbs have been lost with the forests due to fire, wild animals like jackals, leopards and rabbits, among others, have also been disappearing fast from the jungles. “Though the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and others were deployed to extinguish the fire, they could not save the forests,” he said. “Lack of resources was the main challenge to contain the blaze on time, as a result, we have lost precious forests.” District Forest Office said it has begun evaluating the total damage caused by forest fires in the district.
Websource:The Himalayan times
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Fire+wipes+out+huge+swathes+of+forests&NewsID=412962