An analysis of the fires in forests and pastures in Iran Goals, consequences and ways of prevention

Document Type : Review Paper

Authors

1 Associate Prof., Plant Pathology Research Department, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection (IRIPP), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Prof., Forests and Range Lands Research Department, Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, KhorramAbad, Iran

10.22092/ijfrpr.2023.359879.1550

Abstract

Wildfires in natural resources cause huge human, financial, environmental and ecotourism losses to countries every year. The average of annual fire aria in the world's forests is estimated at four million square kilometers. These wildfires lead to the destruction of vegetation, global warming, air pollution, destruction of environmental diversity, and intensifying the phenomenon of desertification. Various natural and human factors (intentional and non-intentional) are effective in the occurrence and spread of fires in the forests and pastures. Ecoterrorism and environmental terrorism are two common approaches for intentional arson attacks in natural resources. One of the important and relatively new act of environmental terrorism is the phenomenon of pyroterrorism or deliberate destructive fires in forests and pastures. Simplicity, low risk, low financial cost and small number of required actors, weakness of governments in quick containment, high advertising range and inflicting significant damages are among the attractions of such operations for saboteurs. In order to minimize the damage caused by natural and intentional fires, the following defense measures are recommended: equipping the institutions responsible for extinguishing forest and pasture fires with advanced and up-to-date firefighting equipment and facilities, attracting the active participation of local people and training firefighters. Forest dwellers and pastoralists in identifying and extinguishing fires in forests and pastures, improving management practices of forests and pastures, monitoring information about threats and using new technologies in the field of security and fire extinguishing.

Keywords

References

-Ackerman, G.A., 2003. Beyond arson? A threat assessment of the Earth Liberation Front. Terror Polit Violence, 15: 143-170.
-Adab, H., Kanniah, K.D. and Solaimani, K., 2013. Modeling forest fire risk in the northeast of Iran using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Natural Hazards, 65: 1723-1743.
-Al-Damkhi, A.M. and Al-Fares, R.A., 2010. Terrorist threats to the environment in Iraq and beyond. Global Environmental Politics, 10: 1-6.
-Al-Damkhi, A.M., 2007. Kuwait’s oil well fires, 1991: environmental crime and war. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 64: 31-44.
-Al-Damkhi, A.M., Abdul-Wahab, S.A. and Al-Khulaifi, N.M., 2009a. Kuwait’s 1991 environmental tragedy: lessons learned. Environmental Disaster Prevention and Management, 18: 233-248.
-Al-Damkhi, A.M., Khuraibet, A.M., Abdul-Wahab, S.A. and Al-Attar, F.A-H., 2009b. Toward defining the concept of environmental crime on the basis of sustainability. Environmental Practice, 11: 115-125.
-Alexander, G.A., 2000. Ecoterrorism and nontraditional military threats. Journal of Military Medicine, 165: 1-5.
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2003. Biological attacks on agricultural products, a new challenge to plant protection. Plant Protection Organization of Iran. Agricultural Education Publication, 105 p (In Persian).
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2005. Forests as a systematic and comprehensive models in pest management and sustainable development. The National Conference on the Future of Iran's Forests. Karaj 2-4 March 2005, pp. 99-114 (In Persian).
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2008. Plant Pathologists role in strengthening passive defense in agricultural sector. Conference on Threats and Biosafety in Iranian Agriculture. December 1387, pp. 1-8 (In Persian).
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2011a. Biological threats to plants: goals, tools and capabilities. Conference on Threats and Biosafety in Iranian Agriculture. December 1387, pp. 9-21 (In Persian).
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2011b. Biotechnology and Terrorism. The Second National Conference on Passive Defense of the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture, July 28-29, 2011, Tehran, Olympic Hotel, pp. 376-366 (In Persian).
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2011d. The role of biological control in reducing biological threats. National Conference and Festival on the Development of Biological Control in Iran. 6-5 August 2011, Tehran, pp. 122-113 (In Persian).
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2017a. Intentional fire with destructive purposes in forests, "pyroterrorism". The Third National Conference on Passive Defense in the Agricultural Sector. Proceedings, pp. 132-145 (In Persian).
-Alizadeh, A.A., 2017b. Role and applications of passive defense measure in Iran's agricultural sector. Sun Publications, 560 p (In Persian).
-Alpas H., Berkowicz S. M. and Ermakova, I., 2011. Environmental Security and Ecoterrorism. Springer. 188 p. ISBN 9400712359.
-Amster, R., 2006. Perspectives on ecoterrorism: catalysts, conflations, and casualties.
Contemporary Justice Review, 9: 287-301.
-Asadian, G., khataar, M., siahmansour, R. and Ahmadian, M. 2021. 'Effect of fire on soil chemical and physical properties in the Solan rangelands, Hamadan Province, Iran', Iran Nature, 6(5): 67-73. doi: 10.22092/irn.2020.352228.1307 (In Persian).
-Badolato, E.V., 1991. Environmental terrorism – a case-study. Terrorism 14:237–239.
-Baird, R.A., 2006. Pyro-terrorism – The threat of arson-induced forest fires as a future terrorist weapon of mass destruction. List of issues Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 29: 415-428.
-Beck, C.J., 2007. On the radical cusp: ecoterrorism in the United States, 1998–2005. Mobilization, 12: 161-176.
-Bendle, M.F., 2009. Australia’s nightmare: bushfire jihad and pyroterrorism. National Jobs, 79: 8-22.
-Berkowicz, S., 2010. The concept of eco-terrorism: anticipating the future, Powerpoint presentation. In: Childs, J. (Eds). NATO ARW on Environmental security and ecoterrorism, Moscow. The military use of land: a history of the defence estate. Peter Lang, Bern.
-Boer, M.M., Resco de Dios, V. and Bradstock, R.A., 2020. Unprecedented burn area of Australian mega forest fires. Nature Climate Change, 10: 171-172.
-Cardil, A., De-Miguel, S., Silva, C. A., Reich, P. B., Calkin, D. E. and Brancalion, P. H. S., 2020. Recent Deforestation Drove the Spike in Amazonian Fires. Environmental Research Letters, 15: 121003. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abcac7.
-Chalecki E.L., 2002. A New Vigilance: Identifying and Reducing the Risks of Environmental Terrorism. Global Environmental Politics, 2(1): 46-64.
-Chandler, C.C., 1970. Forest fire as a military weapon. Sponsored by: Overseas Defense Research. ARPA Order No. 818.
-Chuvieco, E., Aguado, I., Yebra, M., Nieto, H., Salas, J., Martin, P., Vilar, L., Martinez, J., Martıin, S., Ibarra, P., de la Riva, J., Baeza, J., Rodriguez, F., Molina, J.R., Herrera, M.A. and Zamora, R., 2010. Development of a framework for fire risk assessment using remote sensing and geographic information system technologies. Ecological Modelling, 221: 46-58.
-Deshpande, N., 2009. Pyro-terrorism: recent cases and the potential for proliferation. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: 32:36–44.
-Dutch, S.I., 2009. The largest act of environmental warfare in history. Environ Eng Geosci 15:287–297
-Encinas, L.H., White, S.H., del Rey, A.M. and Sanchez, G.R., 2007. Simulation of forest fire fronts using cellular automata. Advances in Engineering Software, 38: 372-378.
-Erb, K-H., 2018. Unexpectedly large impact of forest management and grazing on global vegetation biomass Nature, 553: 73-76.
-Erfahren, M., 2021. Multi-Decade Global Fire Dataset Set To Support Trend Analysis. The CCI fire team have extended the burned area record back to 1982. ESA Climate Change Initiative, https://climate.esa.int/en/odp/#/dashboard.
-Eskandari, S. and Chuvieco, E., 2015. Fire danger assessment in Iran based on geospatial information. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 42: 57-64.
-Eskandari, S., 2021. Fire of Iranian forests, consequences, opposition methods and solutions. Human & Environment, 19(1): 175-187.
-Eskandari, S., Oladi, J., Jalilvand, H. and Saradjian, M.R., 2013. Role of human factors on fire occurrence in District Three of Neka Zalemroud forests- Iran. World Applied Sciences Journal, 27(9): 1146-1150.
-Eskandari, S., Oladi, J., Jalilvand, H. and Saradjian, M.R., 2015a. Prediction of future forest fires using the MCDM method. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 24(5): 2309-2314.
-Eskandari, S., Oladi, J., Jalilvand, H. and Saradjian, M.R., 2015b. Evaluation of the MODIS firedetection product in Neka-Zalemroud fire-prone forests in Northern Iran. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 24(5): 2305-2308.
-Eskandari, S., Pourghasemi, H.R. and Tiefenbacher, J.P., 2020. Relations of land cover, topography, and climate to fire occurrence in natural regions of Iran: Applying new data mining techniques for modeling and mapping fire danger. Forest Ecology and Management, 473: 11
-FAO, 2007. State of the World’s Forests. Published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Rome, 67p.
-Flannigan, M.D., Stock, B.J. and Wotton, B.M., 2000. Climate change and forest fires. The Science of the Total Environment, 262: 221-229.
-Giglio, L., Schroeder, W. and Justice, C. O., 2016. The collection 6 MODIS active fire detection algorithm and fire products. Remote Sensing of Environment, 178: 31-41.
-Hernandez-Leal, P.A., Gonzalez-Calvo, A., Arbelo, M., 2008. Synergy of GIS and remote sensing data in forest fire danger modeling. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 1: 240-247.
-Kazemi, S. M., 2005. Fire and forest ecosystems. Livestock and Agro-industry Journal, 70: 46-56.
-Lashanizand, M. and Siahmansour, R., 2016. Determining effects and potential of biological operations of watershed management in Carbon sequestration to modify climatic changes (Lorestan). Bulletin of Environment, Pharmacology and Life Sciences, 8 [Spl issue 1]: 01-07.
-Leader, S.H., and Probst, P., 2003. The earth liberation front and environmental terrorism. Terror Polit Violence, 15: 37-58.
-Mahdavi, A., Fallah Shamsi, S.R. and Nazari, R., 2012. Forests and rangelands’ wildfire risk zoning using GIS and AHP techniques. Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences, 10(1): 43-52.
-Martinez, J., Vega-Garcia, C. and Chuvieco, E., 2009. Human-caused wildfire risk rating for prevention planning in Spain. Journal of Environmental Management, 90: 1241-1252.
-Podur, J., Martell, D.L. and Knight, K., 2002. Statistical quality control analysis of forest fire activity in Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 32: 195-205.
-Roman, M.V., Azqueta, D. and Rodrigues, M., 2013. Methodological approach to assess the socio-economic vulnerability to wildfires in Spain. Forest Ecology and Management, 294: 158-165.
-Rostamikia, Y., Siahmansour, R., Sharifi, J. and Mohammadi, H., 2022. Effect of fire on density and vegetation composition in wooded rangelands of Vanon Khalkhal region. Iran Nature, 6(6): 77-87. doi: 10.22092/irn.2022.355613.1396 (In Persian).
-Schofield, T., 1999. The environment as an ideological weapon: a proposal to criminalize environmental terrorism. Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, 26: 619-647.
-Schwartz, D.M., 1998. Environmental terrorism: analyzing the concept. Journal of Peace Research, 35: 483-496.
-Siahmansour, R. and Ramak, P., 2019. Fire management in the national arenas of Iran, with an emphasis on rangelands, requires a change in approach, comprehensive management and national determination. Iran Nature, 4(3): 21-26. doi: 10.22092/irn.2019.119471 (In Persian).
-Siahmansour, R., 2018. Technical guidelines for fire management in natural areas (Rangelands), AREEO, Agricultural Education and Extension Institute, Education Public. (In Persian).
-Siahmansour, R., 2022. The effect of fire on rangelands qualitative and quantitative indicators and determine resistant plant species to fire in order to rangeland reclamation in critical centers, Iranian, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, PRN 0-59-90-95-960698, 319 PP (In Persian).
-Siahmansour, R., Arzani, H., Jafari, M., Javadi, S. A. and Tavili, A., 2014a. AN Investigation on effect of fire on characteristic of quality and quantity of plant cover and soil rangelands, Islamic Azad University Science and Rresearch Branch, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resource -Department of Range Management, Ph.D Thesis, 145 pp (In Persian).
-Siahmansour, R., Arzani, H., Jafari, M.,  Javadi, S, A., and Tavili, A., 2014b, AN Investigation on Effect Fire on Soil Surface Cover in Grasslands and Shrubbery in Homo Climatic Condition, Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci., 3(4): 200- 206.
-Siahmansour, R., Arzani, H., Jafari, M., Javadi, S, A., and Tavili, A., 2014c. An investigation on the effect of fire on main particulars in woodland (Case study in Veysian – Lorestan), Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci., Vol 3 (4) March 2014: 192-199.
-Siahmansour, R., H. Arzani., M. Jafari., S. A. Javadi., and Tavili, A., 2015. An investigation on the effect of fire in short time on growth form and palatability classes in Zagheh rangelands, Range and Watershed Management, 68(3), 517-531. (In Persian).
-Sproat, P.A., 1991. Can the state be terrorist? Terrorism, 14: 19-29.
-Taylor, B., 1998. Religion, violence and radical environmentalism: from Earth First! to the Unabomber to the Earth Liberation Front. Terror Polit Violence, 10: 1-42.
-Taylor, B., 2003. Threat assessments and radical environmentalism. Terror Polit Violence, 15: 173-182.
-UNEP, 2001. The Mesopotamian marshlands: demise of an ecosystem. Early warning and assessment technical report, UNEP/DEWA/TR.01-3 Rev. 1. Division of Early Warning and Assessment, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi.
-UNEP, 2009. Support for environmental management of the Iraqi marshlands 2004–2009 Report. Available from http://marshlands.unep.or.jp
-UNEP, 2010. Support for environmental management of the Iraqi marshlands (web site). http://marshlands.unep.or.jp
-Vanderheiden, S., 2005. Eco-terrorism or justified resistance? Radical environmentalism and the “war on terror”. Politics & Society, 33: 425-447.
-Vanderheiden, S., 2008. Radical environmentalism in an age of antiterrorism. Environmental Politics, 17: 299-318.
-Vasilakos, C., Kalabokidis, K., Hatzopoulos, J. and Matsinos, I., 2009. Identifying wildland fire ignition factors through sensitivity analysis of a neural network. Natural Hazards, 50(1): 125-143.
-Westing, A.H., 1985. Environmental warfare. Environmental law, 15: 645-666.
-Yassemi, S., Dragicevic, S. and Schmidt, M., 2007. Design and implementation of an integrated GISbased cellular automata model to characterize forest fire behavior. Ecological Modeling, 201: 71-84.
-Zirschky, J., 1988. Environmental terrorism. Journal of Water Pollution and Control, 60: 1206-121.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 01 September 2022
  • Revise Date: 23 October 2022
  • Accept Date: 14 November 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics