Community Based Wildfire Management on the Tonle Sap Lake
Full Solution
Wildfire training demonstration
Conservation international
Dry season wildfires are destroying the Tonle Sap Lake’s flooded forest and damaging its fishery. And a lack of resources meant that local communities could only watch their forests burn. In 2019 Conservation International began working with a few local fishing communities to address wildfire by providing them with basic fire suppression equipment. Since then, we have developed and are implementing Community Based Fire Management (CBFiM) in 17 communities. CBFiM is a wholistic community-based approach to fire management which aims to prevent and control fire and improve livelihoods, health, security, and conserve wildlands. CBFiM is based around the 5R’s approach:
- Review – identify fire issues and options for change
- Risk Reduction – prevent wildfire.
- Readiness – prepare for wildfire.
- Response – control and extinguish wildfire.
- Recovery – restore damaged areas.
These communities now have the resources and confidence to prevent and suppress wildfire within the CBFiM framework.
Last update: 23 Oct 2024
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Contexto
Défis à relever
The Tonle Sap Lake’s flooded forests and shrublands provide vital wet season fish habitat. Thus their destruction by wildfire reduces fish abundance and diversity and by extension increases food insecurity among the lake’s fishing communities. Furthermore, wildfire is exacerbated by the longer and hotter dry seasons caused by climate change.
Whilst CBFiM has enabled our partner communities to manage wildfire continuing challenges include a need for:
- advanced fire suppression training;
- greater cooperation between community fire management teams and local authorities; and
- improved and wider ranging awareness campaigns.
Communities are also challenged by:
- insufficient financial and human resources to fully implement CBFi;
- difficulty in engaging younger members of the community in managing wildfire;
- limited management capacity within community fire management teams; and
- difficulty in suppressing large fires.
Ubicación
Southeast Asia
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Summary of the process
The six building blocks are complimentary. Building Block 1 - Community and Government Engagement establishes the enabling environment upon which CBFiM can be developed and integrated into community natural resource management planning. Blocks 2-6 are part of an adaptive management cycle, both repeating between fire seasons. Each fire season is reviewed (Block 2 Review), which leads to refined risk reduction strategies (Block 3 - Risk Reduction), readiness for fire (Block 4 – Readiness), suppression of any fires (Block 5 - Response) and at the end of the fire season restoration activities (Block 6 – Restoration). Within a fire season the cycle is small comprising Blocks 3, 4 and 5.
Building Blocks
Community and Government Engagement
First, we identify a suitable community – one that is threatened by fire and has the will to address the problem, and ideally has an established community group. On the Tonle Sap Lake we have worked with Community Fishery Organizations (CFi’s), Community Protected Area Organizations (CPA’s), and Villages to implement CBFiM. Engaging a formal community organization with a recognized structure has several advantages, including recognized community leadership, management capacity, financial resources such as bank accounts, and recognition by the local authorities. First, we seek advice from local government authorities on which communities have the necessary capacity to take part in CBFiM. We then meet with community leaders to gain their support, before engaging with Women’s Saving’s Groups who can provide financial support. From this we develop the community wildfire management team which should be integrated with both the Village and Commune authorities. The community wildfire management team forms the basis of CBFiM.
Enabling factors
Successful establishment of CBFiM requires:
- A committed community with sufficient management capacity and the support of local authorities.
- The presence of an established community group such as a Community Fishery or Community Protected Area, whilst not essential, provides a structure upon which CBFiM can be adapted and built.
- Strong support from the local authorities at the Village, Commune and District levels.
Lesson learned
In engaging communities and Government we have learnt that:
- As community leaders such as CFi and CPA Committee members tend to be older men we encourage diversifying the Community Wildfire Management Team through engaging women and younger people.
- Women have an important role to play as they traditionally manage household finances and can remind the fire management group about fire season preparedness.
- Younger members, whilst often difficult to engage, bring greater energy to the hard physical work of fire suppression.
- Gaining the early support of local government helps integrate them into the community management plan which can be codeveloped through engagement at both the District and Provincial levels of government.
- Continuous government support is maintained through frequent meetings of the Fisheries Coordination Team which brings communities and government together to discuss fisheries issues including wildfire.
Review - identify fire issues and options for change
Once we have established a Community Wildfire Management Team we review their local wildfire issues and identify options for change using a range of participatory methods. Our aim is to build an understanding of how and why fires start within each community and the positive and negative impacts of fires started for different reasons, and in different areas. We recommend interviewing various people including members of the Community Wildfire Management Team, other village leaders and elders, women, youth, and local authorities.
When we understand the causes and impact of wildfire we then conduct community mapping to spatially determine:
- where fires are most likely to be lit and why;
- potential firebreaks or control lines within the landscape;
- location of water sources;
- location of access roads and tracks;
- priority areas for protection (e.g. high value forest and restoration areas); and
- the ability of local community members to control fires both through pre-suppression and suppression measures.
These fire maps helped each community implement measures to prevent, detect, and effectively respond to wildfire.
Enabling factors
A successful review of wildfire issues requires:
- The completion of Building Block 1 - Community and Government Engagement before undertaking the review process.
- Gaining a wide range of perspectives about wildfire within each community, as communities will have different drivers, responses, and attitudes to wildfire.
- Understanding why wildfires occur, particularly if they are lit to benefit some people, is crucial in managing their damaging impacts.
Lesson learned
In reviewing the causes and consequences of wildfire on the Tonle Sap Lake we learnt that:
- Wildfire is caused by people, and most are deliberately lit.
- Hot, dry weather is a significant driver of wildfire. And wind is the major factor in spreading fire.
- In communities without fire suppression equipment rainfall is the main factor in extinguishing fires.
- We recommend printing and prominently displaying each community’s annual CBFiM plan so that it serves as a constant reminder of wildfire management and planned activities.
Risk Reduction - prevent wildfire
With risk reduction we work with communities to prevent wildfires — focusing resources on their underlying causes. Prevention is ab effective control measure as almost all fires on the Tonle Sap are caused by human activities. Our partner communities identified four wildfire risk reduction strategies:
- Conduct multiple wildfire education and awareness sessions with local community members and seasonal migrants.
- Install fire information and warning signboards at high fire risk and high conservation value areas.
- Conduct joint fire suppression patrols with local authorities and FiA officials.
- Identify seasonal migrants who visit the community managed area for fishing and buffalo grazing. And inform them that they will be questioned if any fires occur around their temporary camping area.
- Punish people who destroy the flooded forest by applying the Fishery law, which can result in 3-5 years imprisonment.
Enabling factors
Effective risk reduction requires the following factors:
- Community fire management teams need the support of local authorities in reducing fire risk. This is necessary when approaching and working with seasonal migrants who are not known to the local villagers.
- Local authority support is also required when dealing with the legal aspects of reducing fire risk such as prosecuting offenders.
Lesson learned
Important risk reduction lessons include:
- Posting signboards - particularly those depicting the penalties associated with lighting fires - at high fire risk areas and high value sites discourages people from lighting fires and promotes responsible behaviour. We recommend obtaining approval from local authorities before using these signboards and seeking their advice on their deployment locations.
- Holding multiple wildfire public education sessions each year. Sessions conducted prior to the fire season seek to change people’s behaviour and reduce wildfire risk. Sessions should continue through the fire season to ensure that people remain conscious of the risk of wildfire.
- As wildfire is caused by people the wildfire management team should focus on educating community members and seasonal migrants whose livelihoods rely on fishing, and thus the flooded forest. Migrant fishermen and cattle grazers should be engaged as they are held responsible for lighting fires in the past.
- Encourage women to join the awareness and education sessions as they are best at reminding their family members and neighbors about the causes and dangers of wildfire.
- Members of the wildfire management team should share their contact details with migrant fishermen, so they can inform them if they detect any fires.
Readiness - prepare for wildfire
Despite the best risk reduction efforts - fires will still occur, and partner communities need to be prepared to suppress them. To be ready to suppress fire CBFiM groups require:
- well maintained locally sourced fire suppression equipment including protective clothing;
- fire management training; and
- real-time satellite-based fire alerts.
Each community wildfire management team should frequently patrol high-fire risk areas during the fire season. This allows them to identify and address high-risk behavior before a fire starts, monitor fuel loads, and assess access routes and water availability in the event of a fire.
Enabling factors
Being ready to suppress wildfire requires:
- A functioning community wildfire management team.
- A system that detects wildfire and can alert the community wildfire management team.
- External resources are needed to manage wildfire alerts, as due to technical constraints and community capacity they cannot be provided directly to community groups for action.
Lesson learned
Lessons for being ready to suppress wildfire include:
- Providing communities with protective clothing that are made of natural materials such as cotton, as polyester is flammable and highly dangerous when exposed to open fires. The provision of this safety equipment is important as most community members’ day to day clothes are not safe when worn to suppress wildfires.
- Our partner communities reported that OroraTech’s wildfire alerts forwarded by project staff frequently warned them of fires before they were observed on the ground. This service is extremely valuable to them as they can respond quickly, investigate, and stop wildfires before they become large and uncontrollable.
Resources
Response - control and extinguish wildfire
Implementing the actions described above in review, risk reduction, and readiness allows communities to respond to wildfires. On receipt of a wildfire alert, the Community Wildfire Management Team will either send a team member or ask a nearby community member to visit the site and assess the situation. On confirmation of an active fire, the Community Wildfire Management Team will determine if it requires suppression, and if so, attend and suppress the fire with the appropriate equipment. If the fire is not threatening shrubland or flooded forest, then they will monitor the situation.
Effective fire suppression requires on-ground planning and clear roles and responsibilities among the Wildfire Management Team. It is important that a clear and safe plan is developed and agreed to amongst the team as to how to approach and suppress wildfire and each team member’s role in doing so.
Recording the details of each fire alert, confirmed wildfire, and action taken to address each wildfire is important so that we can learn from our experiences and adaptively manage wildfires in the future. This information is needed for both the review and recovery components of the 5Rs.
Enabling factors
Effective fire suppression requires:
- Early warning of a wildfire
- A trained and confident fire management team who can safely suppress wildfire with well-maintained locally sourced equipment.
Lesson learned
Important lessons in responding to wildfire include:
- Inexpensive locally sourced equipment that can be adapted to wildfire suppression is preferrable to expensive imported specialist equipment. Our community partners experience with locally sourced equipment demonstrated their familiarity with it, its effectiveness in suppression wildfire, and ease of replacement.
- A variety of tools can be used to suppress wildfire. Community Wildfire Management Team members reported that they most often used hand tools such as rakes, hoes, and bush knives to remove flammable material and create a bare earth barrier. They also used backpack water sprayers to suppress wildfire.
- Whilst Community Wildfire Management Teams often used water to suppress wildfire, the larger and heavier water pump and hoses could often not be used due to difficulty in accessing sites and lack of access to water (e.g. lake, streams, or ponds).
- A clear description of the fire ground helped the Community Wildfire Management Teams decide on which equipment to deploy. For example, site access and a nearby supply of water is needed before a water pump and hoses are deployed.
Recovery - restore damaged areas
Recovery from wildfire involves looking after community welfare, repairing infrastructure, and restoring fire-damaged landscapes. Wildfire on the Tonle Sap Lake has the greatest impact on the natural environment. Fortunately, direct impacts of wildfire on people and infrastructure are rare. Thus, recovery involves the restoration of fire-damaged vegetation. This involves determining which areas can be restored and which are left as they are. Some areas such as paths through thick vegetation are repeatedly burned to clear dried water hyacinth and grass to maintain access, or patches are burned to clear space for fishing nets. Each community must decide whether these areas can be restored or are best left untouched. Other areas can either be left to regrow naturally or be actively restored using techniques such as assisted natural regeneration, transplanting nursery grown seedlings or direct seeding using native species (commonly Barringtonia acutangula, Diospyros cambodiana, and Combretum trifoliatum). This generally requires outside resources, and the development of restoration plans with local communities.
Enabling factors
Recovery from flooded forest wildfire requires:
- Community members with experience in a range of restoration techniques. On the Tonle Sap this is most commonly the propagation of seeds in a nursery, with seedlings planted out at the restoration site.
- An external source of funding is required to support restoration activities due to the limited financial capacity of local communities on the Tonle Sap Lake.
Lesson learned
Slowly building community confidence in restoration is essential so they can increase the area of land restored over several years and manage that restored land.
Impacts
Implementing Community-Based Fire Management (CBFiM) in 17 Tonle Sap Lake communities has seen them:
- Develop and update their annual CBFiM plans;
- Post fire warning signs;
- Inform villagers and seasonal migrants of their responsibility not to cause wildfires; and
- Report their activities to relevant local authorities.
We have supplied communities with locally available fire suppression equipment and provided each community with real-time wildfire alerts from OroraTech (https://ororatech.com/wildfire-service/). This allowed them to rapidly respond to wildfire. Since 2019 they have responded to, and suppressed, twenty-two wildfires that otherwise would have burned uncontrolled.
We granted eleven Women’s Saving Groups with US$500 - 1000 CBFiM Funds which have generated US$3,230 in interest. Money their CFi partners can use for fire management. We provided expert fire management training to seventy-eight people from community groups and local government agencies, which increased their confidence in managing wildfires.
Beneficiaries
Fishing community members benefit through improved fire management. Environmental benefits accrue to around 300 species of fish and numerous IUCN Red List threatened birds, mammals, and reptiles through reduced impact of fire on their floodplain habitat.
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 15 – Life on land
Story
Peam Bang Community Fishery Fire Management Team
Peam Bang Community Fishery
Our community partners are enthusiastic about controlling wildfire, which “is worse than cutting the flooded forest,” according to Mr. Pen Sokhom head of Kampong Prak CFi. Whilst members of the Doun Sdaeung CFi remarked that “The ash and debris left over from a fire, causes the water to become polluted and unsuitable for fish”. All community groups found OroraTech’s detection system with real-time wildfire alerts to be extremely useful, providing notifications about wildfires that they might otherwise be unaware of with details about the location and time of the fires. Members of the Kampong Khnease and Ou Ta Prok Community Fisheries stated that before CBFiM, when faced with a fire, they could only try to beat the flames using branches cut from trees - which was never successful. CBFiM has provided them with the equipment and knowledge required to manage wildfires and, importantly, has given them the confidence to organize as a team and safely suppress fires.
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Other contributors
Heng Sokrith
Conservation International
Srorn Chanthorn
Conservation International
Pheng Sokline
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Vann Layhim
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Sith Kriya
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Dong Tangkor
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Joe Tilley
Independent expert
