The Tràm Chim National Park in Đồng Tháp Province’s Tam Nông District. The park’s management board has installed cameras at key sites to monitor fires this year. – VNA/VNS Photo Chương Đài

ĐỒNG THÁP – Three forests in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Đồng Tháp are facing the highest level of fire risk, the fifth, according to its Forest Protection Sub-department.

They include the protective forest in Tân Hồng District, Động Cát Station and the forest and grassland at the Gò Tháp Heritage Site in Tháp Mười District.

Nguyễn Tấn Thành, head of the sub-department, said the places could catch fire on a large scale and the blaze could spread rapidly.

They mostly have cajuput and eucalyptus trees and are close to farming areas, he said.

During the ongoing dry season forest managers have taken various prevention measures, including preparing firefighting facilities and equipment in high-risk areas.

Inflammable materials have been cleared from nearby forests and fire breaks have been created.

They have dredged water bodies inside forests to ensure boats with equipment could sail to prevent and control fires, pumped water into forests to reduce the dryness and stored water for firefighting.

In the protective forest in Tân Hồng District, which the district’s Defence – Economic Unit 959 manages, it has dredged canals and ponds to store more water.  

At the Tràm Chim National Park in Tam Nông District, the management has installed cameras at key sites to monitor fires. 

The 7,313ha park has mostly cajuput trees and is a Ramsar wetlands site of international importance.

In the Xẻo Quýt cajuput forest in Cao Lãnh District, the management board has installed pumps and regularly sprays water to reduce dryness in places visited by tourists.

Thành said during high tides forest managers should pump water into forests to increase the humidity and store water for possible firefighting.

They should step up patrols and monitor the forests around the clock to promptly discover and control fires, he said.

Đồng Tháp has more than 12,000ha of mostly cajuput and eucalyptus forests.

The sub-department has trained 1,746 people in the province in combating forest fires, and issued hundreds of booklets on it this year.

It has undertaken advocacy activities on radio and TV, and bought equipment for preventing and fighting forest fires, including a fire truck and hoses. – VNS