The Similipal forest reserve in Odisha has been burning for more than 10 days. The fire that spread widely affected eight of the 21 forest ranges in the state. While the forest fires in this region are not new, the advent of summer causes an increase in fire incidents.
But this time, the scale of the fires is worrying, as the biosphere is home to about 304 species of birds, 164 species of butterflies, 94 species of orchids, 60 species of reptiles, 55 species of mammals, 38 species of fish and 21 species of amphibians.
However, the southern part of the state is the Malkangiri forest division that faces the same issues every year. But thanks to the two years of efforts by an IFS officer in the division, about 1,000 acres of forestland have been saved from going up in flames.
IFS Pradeep Mirase, divisional forest officer of Malkangiri forest division, took charge in late 2018. The first challenge he faced was the overwhelming number of forest fire incidents reported in the area.
“We…