In preparation for the Forest Fire Prevention Month, a training on Forest Fire Management was conducted last February 26-28, 2019 at Villa del Prado, Sariaya, Quezon. The three-day training included lectures about fire protection, detection, and suppression, a clean-up activity along the coastline of Villa del Prado, an overview of Lawin Forest and Biodiversity Protection System, a workshop on Geo-Tagging and Cyber-tracking, and an actual field practicum on Lawin Geo-Tagging and Forest Fire Management.

The training was conducted to enhance the awareness, knowledge, and skills on fire protection and management. The said activity was attended by personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Department of Environment of Natural Resources (DENR).

Forester Marx Pranada from BFP disclosed that one of the main goals of the training is to “capacitate the partnership and to empower the BFP so that the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between BFP and DENR could be implemented more than expected”.

The purpose of the MOA between the two agencies, according to For. Pranada, is to have a partnership between BFP and DENR “to provide arson investigation towards Kaingeros, charcoal makers, poachers, etc.”

According to Forester Eligio Soliman, fire protection also includes social concerns. It affects the group of people who do kaingin, charcoal, and poaching as a way of living. For. Soliman said that one way to help with the fire problem is to let them live through the means that they know but offer help so that it will be safe for both the people and the forest.

In relation with the LAWIN application, Pranada said that the application can be a good tool but it is “very tedious” unlike their existing application which is the Global Forest Fire Watch.