More than 100 firemen and soldiers sent to a forest fire in Shei-Pa National Park (
The heart of the fire, near the eastern summit of Hsuehshan (
Officials at the national park's headquarters requested in 1983 that the Ministry of the Interior supply helicopters to patrol forests and help to extinguish fires. However, the ministry rejected the request on the grounds that no qualified pilots were available to fly them.
Yesterday, the army's helicopters delivered firemen from Taichung County's fire department and soldiers to the fire scene. They opened firebreaks in lower areas, around 1,600m above sea level, to prevent the fire from spreading down the mountain. Officials said the fire was almost totally extinguished yesterday afternoon.
Peng said that the fire would not cause significant ecological damage because little wildlife flourishes at such high altitudes.
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Forestry officials from the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday that forest fires were not necessary damaging to nature.
"I don't think it's quite correct to call a forest fire an `ecological catastrophe,' a term used commonly by the media. Forest fires do not always hurt the ecological equilibrium," said Lin Chao-chin (林朝欽), a scientist at the COA's Taiwan Forestry Research Institute.
Lin said that scientists at the institute had carried out a follow-up study in Lishan, which was damaged by a fire 25 years ago, and discovered that the area had regenerated.
From the incident, forestry officials concluded that planting the same alpine trees that were lost helped speed recovery of the land.
One forestry official pointed out that mountain forests were essential to prevent soil washing down the steep slopes in heavy rains.
"We need the trees to ensure the water quality of the Tehchi Reservoir (德基水庫), which is located in a lower area," said Chen Hsi-chou (陳溪洲), director of the COA's Forestry Department (林業處).
The forest fire season in Taiwan starts in December and ends in March. Officials said that while forest fires play a beneficial role in the forest ecosystem, it could be also a destructive force that endangers natural resources, people's property and even lives.
About 27 forest fires occur in Taiwan yearly. Due to the downsizing of the Taiwan Provincial Government, however, only 800 patrols of the COA's Taiwan Forestry Bureau (
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