HCMC – The Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau has stepped up the use of smart surveillance cameras and thermal-sensing drones to monitor more than 50,500 hectares of melaleuca forest facing high to extreme wildfire risks, shifting forest protection efforts from manual patrols to digital monitoring systems.
As of mid-May, prolonged drought conditions have pushed forest fire prevention efforts in the province to critical levels. According to local authorities, around 11,700 hectares are under Level III fire warning (highly risky), 11,600 hectares under Level IV (dangerous), and 27,100 hectares under the highest Level V warning (extremely dangerous).
The most vulnerable areas are concentrated in key zones such as U Minh Ha National Park, where thick vegetation and dried-up canal systems have heightened fire risks.
To replace traditional patrol methods that require large manpower and offer limited visibility, authorities have installed specialized camera systems equipped with thermal imaging and 4K optical lenses atop 26-meter observation towers.
The system can rotate 360 degrees, monitor areas within a five-kilometer radius, and provide round-the-clock surveillance for roughly 2,500 hectares of forest per monitoring cluster. When smoke or abnormal heat patterns are detected, alerts are automatically sent to the smartphones of on-duty personnel for immediate response.
Thermal-equipped drones have also been deployed to support monitoring during early-season thunderstorms, when steel observation towers face high lightning strike risks and cannot safely accommodate personnel. The drones can pinpoint fire locations and transmit the shortest access routes to firefighting teams on the ground.
Although rainfall has begun returning to southern Vietnam, forest management authorities said fire risks remain high due to early-season lightning strikes and the continued presence of people entering forests to collect wild honey.
U Minh Ha National Park is proposing additional investment in three new camera clusters worth around VND7.2 billion to expand surveillance coverage across the entire protected area, while maintaining 24/7 emergency response operations under the “four on-site” principle.
