Geographically, forest fires occur in all regions of the country. Numerically, there are many such incidents in Terai in a short period of time. Chure area is more affected by this. According to the data of the Ministry of Forestry and Environment, the highest number of fire incidents occur in the central hills in terms of fire penetration, loss of life and area.

More than 3,000 fire incidents occur every year and it has been found that 6 hectares of forest area has been affected. In Nepal, 65 percent of forest fires occur in the month of April.

The underlying causes of fires include failure to manage forests, excessive accumulation of combustible materials in forests, arable land remaining barren, carelessness, unintentional or deliberate fire-setting, and poaching. Experts say that the management of flammable materials is the most challenging. Experts suggest that 96 percent of fires are caused by human causes and about 70 percent of fires are caused by carelessness or ignorance.

Forest fire expert Sunder Sharma says that it will be effective only if the action plan is implemented by forming a task force for fire control. He says, 'If the scattered plans, budgets and manpower are collected and the capacity of the manpower can be increased with the necessary equipment, it will be effective.' Sharma says that the risk of fire should be reduced by systematically controlled fires, fire lines should be made for control, and public awareness should be raised at the community level about preparedness and prevention measures.

According to the statistics of 2024, forest fires occurred in 5 thousand 136 places across Nepal and 74 districts were affected. Among them, most fire incidents occurred in Surkhet 328, Salyan 281, Dang 276, Kailali 256, Chiwatan 250, Bardia 226, Doti 275, Dadeldhura 185, Parsa 173 and Banke 165. Similarly, if we look at the statistics of the last 10 years, the highest number of fire incidents occurred in 2016, 6,234, 6,537 in 2021, and 5,136 in 2024.

According to Deepak Gyawali, Chief Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Resources Division, the risk of forest fires has increased due to the long winter drought this year as well. He said that due to the incidents of forest fires seen in Kavre and Lalitpur and Langtang National Park last month, more caution should be taken. .

Co-Secretary Gyawali says that there are challenges in Nepal such as geographical terrain and security, lack of suitable equipment, fire control is expensive and requires more resources, limited traditional trained manpower, and lack of motivation. "Even if the combustible materials such as dry leaves, sticks and bushes in the forest are given responsibility to the private sector, if they can be used as industrial raw materials, the risk of fire will be reduced," he said. 

The causes of dried up trees and fires

In the hilly areas, there is an increase in the barrenness of agricultural fields due to the lack of necessary manpower. Also, due to the damage caused by wild animals to the farm fields, the farmers have started to flee. The collection and use of forest resources has decreased significantly due to the fact that farmers have stopped raising even the commodities.

Inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs and bushes accumulate in the forest and become a source for fires in the dry season. Concerned people have expressed concern that if such substances are not managed and utilized properly, the fire will be catastrophic. Experts suggest to manage the forest in a timely manner to make the collection of firewood more effective and to manage the flammable materials near the village. 

President of Nepal Forest Technical Association Rakesh Karna says that the division forest office should develop a system to receive information from the local group level. He suggested that necessary arrangements should be made so that they can react immediately by building a systematic network. It can be effective if the responsible staff and security agencies at the divisional level have the necessary resources, the network with the groups coordinated by the sub-divisions at the local level and the team at the group level can be effectively mobilized. Everyone should take part in it,' he said. 

The government has made legal and policy provisions including the annual budget, forest policy, forest law, forest regulations, forest fire management strategy, disaster risk management national strategy, disaster risk reduction national strategic action plan, climate change policy, disaster risk reduction management authority regulations for fire control.

Secretary of the Ministry Dr. Deepak Kumar Kharal says that the effect of the climate has increased the fire and the effect of the climate has increased due to the fire. He urged that everyone should be sensitive to its control as wildfires cause loss of biological diversity and also cause air pollution. Mentioning that policies, laws and agencies scattered in this will be integrated and mobilized, Secretary Dr. Kharal said, 'We have formed a working group to include representatives of related agencies to work on fire control. Soon we will prepare to conduct a project related to forest fire control with government and foreign aid.'