The Volunteer Forest Firefighting project was originally set up in 2020, to assist local communities in fighting forest wildfires in the area around our foundation. This has developed to include Chiang Mai province, and the plan is to set up teams in every province in Thailand.
Although Covid-19 has impacted our volunteer numbers this year (2021), we have still been able to field a team to tackle fires in both Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, extending our network of contacts within local communities and other regional firefighting teams. Our strengths lie in the number of people we can put into the field, our equipment, our donors, and the experience of our staff.
Since our inaugural year, we have learned and adapted to incorporate better equipment, improve communications, hone our knowledge of the terrain and environment, and everything necessary to increase our expertise and effectiveness in dealing with wildfires.
The forest fires affect a vast area across east Asia and south-east Asia, from India across to Vietnam, as well as parts of China and the Philippines. In our area the time of year runs roughly from mid-February to the end of April, by which time we should begin to get some early rainfall before monsoon season starts.
The screenshot on the right shows all the hotspots across the region in the previous 24 hours, with Thailand relatively clear, in comparison with surrounding countries. This is partly because the infrastructure, government initiatives, and equipment available is better. However, huge problems remain which is where we believe our volunteers can help.