Asian Games to boost Indonesia’s war on forest fires

Asian Games to boost Indonesia’s war on forest fires

Every dry season, large parts of Southeast Asia are shrouded in pollution caused by forest fires in Indonesia, many sets deliberately to clear land for pulp and paper and palm oil plantations. What’s the government doing about this?

Indonesia’s choking annual haze will be limited this year by the pressure of hosting the Asian Games and a new approach to preventing forest fires, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Every dry season—usually from June until October—large parts of Southeast Asia are shrouded in pollution caused by forest fires in Indonesia, many sets deliberately to clear land for pulp and paper and palm oil plantations.

Indonesia’s government switched focus from containment to prevention after a particularly bad outbreak in 2015 that cost the country $16 billion and caused more than 500,000 people to come down with respiratory ailments.

“Before 2015 it was all about suppressing the fires, but now it’s about prevention,” said Raffles Panjaitan, director of forest and land fire management at the forestry ministry.

If the haze comes, then aeroplanes cannot get through and land, which will stop the athletes.

Raffles Panjaitan, director, forest and land fire management, Ministry of Forestry

The spotlight on Indonesia as it hosts the 2018 Asian Games from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 makes it all the more important to tackle the problem, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“If the haze comes, then aeroplanes cannot get through and land, which will stop the athletes,” he said on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit in Yogyakarta, on the Indonesian island of Java.

“It’s important for us,” he said of the Games, which will be co-hosted by the Sumatran city of Palembang and Jakarta.

Over the last three years, Indonesia has introduced a range of new policies including educating and training communities in fire prevention and setting up a Peatland Restoration Agency to tackle fires and protect peatland, said Panjaitan.

Peatlands—made up of partially decayed vegetation, typically saturated with water—hold huge amounts of carbon, and are important habitats for endangered species, like tigers, according to the campaign group Greenpeace.

It has drafted in the military, built early warning towers and organized patrols to monitor the burning, he said.

Panjaitan said better coordination of local governments, villagers, and companies could help reduce the risk.

Local leaders may turn a blind eye to burning of peatlands for fear of losing votes in elections later this year, he added.

Experts said the haze problem, which affects Malaysia and Singapore as well as Indonesia, would only be resolved if governments and the private sector, including the palm oil and aviation industries, came together to tackle it jointly.

“You need to take the people that are potentially the most affected—including the private sector—and sit everybody around the table to sort this out,” said Robert Nasi, head of the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research.

Link: http://www.eco-business.com/news/asian-games-to-boost-indonesias-war-on-forest-fires/

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Entering the dry season, watch out for fire in forest and plantation area

Entering the dry season, watch out for a fire in forest and plantation area

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2018, | 02:11 pm

News24xx.com – Some parts of Indonesia region had entered dry season this month. Some regions need to cautious of forest and land area blaze.

“Facing dry season this year, we need to be more cautious for a fire in forest and plantation areas,” said Head of BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology and Geology agencies), Dwikorita Karnawati in her statement, Tuesday, April 17th, 2018

The region where vulnerable of happening of Karhutla (fire of forest and plantation areas), which are Aceh and North Sumatra, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Gorontalo, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi and  South Papua

Entering the dry season, some areas of Indonesia are affected by weak category of La Nina and can be moved to its normal conditions in September 2018.  BMKG clarified that there was no indication of abnormal weather.

“BMKG predicted that the Indian Ocean is constantly in the normal condition in April up to September 2018,” said Dwikora.

Wind circulation has been dominated by Australia monsoon wind (eastern) almost in all Indonesia region from the southern equator. Eastern wind brings dry wind from the Australian continent.

News24xx.com/fik/red

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Link: http://www.news24xx.com/read/news/6188/Entering-the-dry-season-watch-out-for-fire-in-forest-and-plantation-area

Dried Melaleuca forest poses risk of fire

Dried Melaleuca forest poses risk of fire

Update: April, 17/2018 – 15:00

Viet Nam News CÀ MAU — The 43,000ha U Minh Hạ Melaleuca forest has been completely dry since Monday, according to forest rangers of the Mekong Delta province of Cà Mau.

This puts 4,200ha of the forest area under forest fire danger level 5 (very high) and another 14,600ha under danger level 4 (high). Most of this area falls in the communes of Nguyễn Phích, Khánh An and Khánh Lâm in U Minh District and Khánh Bình and Tây Bắc communes in Trần Văn Thời District.

Many measures have been put in place to protect the forest, prevent fire and regularly track water levels to issue timely forest fire forecasts as well as mobilise adequate contingency forces.

The provincial forest ranger has conducted several awareness campaigns, calling for individuals to take fire prevention measures and teaching local residents to put out a fire.

Authorities have also warned against collecting honey in the dry season and have set up warning signs in the forest.

(more…)

Rain abates, fires foul air in North

Rain abates, fires foul air in North

Breaking News April 16, 2018, 12:04

By Tossapol Boonpat
The Nation

Continuing forest fires pushed air quality in northern Mae Hong Son province well beyond the safe level on Monday.

After 10 days during which particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometres (PM10) were found to be within the safety limit of 120 micrograms per cubic metre – a respite credited to recent rains – the level rose again on Sunday to 150 micrograms.

On Monday, the level at 5 am was 164 micrograms, and by 10 am 177 micrograms.

More forest fires were reported along the Myanmar border in the past three days, contributing to the rise in PM10, said a source at a military unit based west of Muang Mae Hong Son.

Soldiers joined volunteers in extinguishing the blazes.

Khun Yuam district chief Narongchai Jindapan said residents were setting fires to clear brush so they could return later and forage for mushrooms and edible buds, which are believed to become more plentiful when rainfall accompanies intense heat, such as from fires or very hot weather.

At 10 am on Monday the Pollution Control Department reported unhealthy PM10 levels in Mae Hong Son (177 micrograms), Muang Chiang Mai (124) and Chiang Rai’s Muang district (137) and Mae Sai district (123).

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30343249

HCM City increases patrols after forest fire threat

HCM City increases patrols after forest fire threat

Update: April, 12/2018 – 10:18

A fire broke out across 40ha of pines in Ia Grai protective forest in Ia Chia Commune, Ia Grai District of Central Highlands province of Gia Lai in March. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Điệp

HCM CITY – Authorities, including local ones, need to increase patrolling and promote fire safety to ensure there are no major forest fires during the ongoing dry season, a meeting held to review forest protection and fire prevention heard in HCM City yesterday.

Lê Thanh Liêm, deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee, said: “Forest fires have a severe impact on daily life and the economy and environment.”

He instructed related authorities and districts to increase patrols and take severe action against anyone found violating forest protection laws.

“Districts, which have forests in small patches, must improve fire prevention.”

He said local authorities should liaise closely with households who have been allotted forests and take care of them, he added.

He instructed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to enhance propaganda and education on forest protection and safety and forest fire prevention and fighting, and inform local residents about the level of fire threats for them to be prepared.

“Relevant authorities must regularly monitor individuals and organisations working in forests to ensure they follow fire safety regulations.

“The city Forest Rangers Sub-department should step up patrolling.”

(more…)

Terra and Aqua Satellites Again Detect Five Hotspots in Aceh Province

Terra and Aqua Satellites Again Detect Five Hotspots in Aceh Province

BANDA ACEH, NNC – Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS sensors attached to two satellites, Terra and Aqua, detect five hotspots in the province of Aceh.

“This morning, monitored five hotspots in Aceh again,” said Head of Data and Information of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Aceh, Zakaria Ahmad in Aceh Besar, Wednesday (4/11/2018).

The five hot spots, he added, were re-detected by the satellites after on Tuesday, (4/10), were also observed in the same location, that is, two regencies in Aceh.

Four hotspots are concentrated in the highlands, that is, Central region of Aceh which is a producer of Arabica and Robusta coffee, Bener Meriah Regency.

In the coffee-producing regency, hotspots are spread over three sub-district, such as, Bandar two spots, Permata and Syiah Utama each one spot.

The rest of hotspot was detected in North Aceh Regency, in Simpang Keuramat Sub-district which has a confidence level of 56 percent.

Read more: http://www.en.netralnews.com/news/currentnews/read/20170/terra.and.aqua.satellites.again.detect.five.hotspots.in.aceh.province

Tropical rainforests may be near a tipping point beyond our control

Tropical rainforests may be near a tipping point beyond our control

Deforestation may work like diseases: if left uncontained, it can win

MICHAEL GRAW, MASSIVE04.09.20182:59 PM

In the Amazon, Congo, and Indonesia, the three regions that are home to nearly all of the world’s tropical rainforests, the human motivations behind and methods of deforestation are entirely distinct. In South America the most significant driver of forest loss is the need to clear land for industrial-scale agriculture and ranching, so huge swaths of forest are burned into oblivion by human-set wildfires. In Southeast Asia, on the other hand, the high price of timber in the global market makes clear-cutting a lucrative venture. In Africa, deforestation lacks this industrial scale, but is more haphazard as small farmers clear land in piecemeal efforts to plant subsistence crops.

The net result is that the rainforests of today’s post-industrial world are more like millions of tiny, isolated patches of forest than the massive stretches of jungle that blanketed the tropics for millennia. The ramifications echo far beyond sentimental conservation — these forest fragments collectively emit 31 percent more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than intact rainforests, even after accounting for emissions from deforestation. In addition, numerous plants and animals that call the tropical rainforests home, and that inspire pharmaceuticals for human medicine, have struggled to adapt to patchwork forests, and so face extinction.

Read more: https://www.salon.com/2018/04/09/tropical-rainforests-may-be-near-a-tipping-point-beyond-our-control_partner/

Localities urged high vigilance in response to forest fires

Localities urged high vigilance in response to forest fires

VNA 

Hanoi (VNA) – Localities nationwide have been urged by the Vietnam Administration of Forestry to prepare measures to prevent forest fires and mitigate damage caused by fires.

Authorities at grassroots levels must promote communication works on firefighting among their residents while forces should be ready around the clock in case forest fires occur.

Roles must be assigned among members of all-level steering boards of the national target programme on sustainable forestry development to enhance inspections. Meanwhile, military and police forces were ordered to stand ready to offer assistance in case of fire.

Forest ranger teams should work with people’s committees to direct and examine efforts to prevent forest fires while forest owners are responsible for upgrading firefighting facilities.

Localities must monitor forest fire warnings on the forest protection department’s website: kiemlam.org.vn and any forest fires should be reported to the forest protection department under the Vietnam Administration of Forestry via 098 666 8333.

This year’s dry season has seen complicated weather developments, thus, the highest level alert of forest fires has been forecast in many localities. Forest fires have already hit some provinces, including Binh Thuan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Lao Chau, Dien Bien and Hai Phong.-VNA

Read More: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/localities-urged-high-vigilance-in-response-to-forest-fires/129259.vnp