Wildfire victims from across the country will receive free treatment, as the REDD (Reducing Emission and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) Implementation Centre under the Ministry of Forests and Environment has insured potential victims starting this fiscal year.

In the past, due to the lack of insurance for free treatment, many forest fire victims were either forced to sell all of their properties or were deprived of treatment.

“This year, we have paid insurance premiums for 496 potential wildfire victims at the Sanima General Insurance Company,” said Nabaraj Pudasaini, chief of the REDD Implementation Centre.

“The number is four times the maximum number of victims injured or dead in forest fire incidents in any particular year.”

Wildfires are common during the dry season in Nepal and they peak between April and May. They spread across hundreds of forests throughout the country, including in community-protected areas. However, not all of them make it to government records.

Every year, dozens of people across the country are injured in forest fire incidents, and several succumb to their injuries. Officials say that most fire victims reside in remote areas and near forests or are those combating the inferno.

“Most victims of forest fires used to face financial hardships due to their inability to pay costly medical bills,” said Sundar Sharma, a forest fire expert. “This initiative will ensure free treatment and insurance for those injured or in case of death.”

Officials say that victims with minor injuries will receive a payout of Rs100,000, seriously injured will get Rs500,000, and family members of the deceased will receive Rs500,000 under the insurance scheme.

So far, one person has died and three have been injured in forest fire incidents since the start of 2025. Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction Portal has recorded as many as 268 incidents of forest fires this year.

Altogether, 38 have died, and 202 have been injured in a total of 1,448 fire-related incidents in several districts since January this year.

However, victims of incidents other than wilfires will not get insurance or free treatment.

Experts warn that forest fire incidents are likely to rise due to ongoing dry conditions and minimal chances of heavy rainfall in the coming days. They warn that wildfires have not only threatened years of progress made by the country but also risked lives and livelihoods, ecology, and the environment.

“Strengthening local governments, imparting training to locals, providing them with necessary kits to deal with potential fire incidents, and building artificial ponds are among the ways to deal with fire incidents,” said Sharma.

“Raising awareness of the consequences of deliberately causing forest fires and penalising those responsible could significantly reduce such incidents. We should also make people aware of the dangers of putting out fires.”

Humans are responsible for almost all incidents of forest fire in Nepal, and over 60 percent of these incidents are intentional, according to studies.

Nepal’s valuable forests, restored through six decades of effort, now face an escalating wildfire crisis, compounded by scarce resources and a lack of effective prevention and response strategies. The country has increased its forest coverage from around 41 percent in 2019 to 45 percent. However, experts caution that the rising frequency of wildfires threatens this hard-earned progress.

Meanwhile, officials at the REDD Implementation Centre said they have trained and hired 110 firefighters in the districts of Madhesh and Lumbini provinces to combat wildfires. They said the districts in the two provinces were chosen for their high vulnerability to forest fires.