RFMRC SEA – Page 25

UK satellites to help monitor ASEAN forest fires

This project will use satellite data and mapping to monitor peat conditions in Indonesia and Malaysia.

9 FEB 2018

The UK Space Agency will use satellite imagery and earth observation data to help countries in Asia tackle forest fires, dengue, and illegal fishing, it was announced.

Through its International Partnership Programme, the agency works with governments all over the world to improve disaster response or infectious disease management, for example.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, the agency will use satellites to map dry peat conditions, as forest fires often occur over drained peatland areas. With data on water levels in the peatlands, authorities can make decisions to mitigate the risk of fires.

Another project under the partnership will monitor dengue outbreaks in Vietnam. It will be possible to predict the likelihood of future dengue epidemics by linking earth observation data with climate forecasting and land surface data. The project will also be able to provide dengue forecasts under various climate change scenarios.

A third project will use satellite data to understand the location, time and behavior of specific vessels at sea in the Philippines, in an effort to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

The agency has set aside a total of £11 million (US$15.3 million) for these three projects in particular. It will be funding ten projects altogether, totaling £38 million (US$ 52.9 million). They include an initiative in Colombia to monitor illegal gold mining; a project to help herders in Mongolia to build resilience against extreme weather; and an effort to monitor dam failures in Peru.

Still no action taken on threatening of forest patroller

Phak Seangly | Publication date 09 February 2018 | 10:54 ICT

Forest patrollers and rights groups are questioning why the Oddar Meanchey Forestry Administration has yet to take action after a soldier transporting illegal timber allegedly beat and threatened to kill a patroller last month.

Patroller Loeut Las and Sorng Rukhavorn community forest chief Venerable Bun Saluth say they have filed complaints with local representatives of the rights groups Adhoc and Licadho in hopes of bringing the suspect to court.

“If I were them, I would not keep the complaint like that,” Las said, adding that he believes the delay is due to the influence of the armed forces. “As far as I know, the suspect is not afraid of anything.”

Community forest patrollers say Regiment 424 soldier Moeng Duong hit Las and threatened to set his family on fire last month after being caught allegedly transporting luxury timber. Forestry Administration officials who were at the scene of the confrontation have confirmed the account.

However, when reached yesterday, provincial Forestry Administration Director I’m Savarith said the agency needed more time to investigate.

“It is like trying to catch a cobra,” Savarith said. “If we make a wrong move, the cobra will bite us dead.”

He declined to say when the investigation would end before hanging up.

Regiment 424 commander Sin Pean could not be reached for comment yesterday, but told The Post earlier this week that he had punished and “educated” Duong.

Saluth and Las sent a report to the provincial Forestry Administration shortly after the incident, which took place on January 28. Srey Naren, a provincial coordinator for Adhoc, said he plans to file a complaint with the court next week in hopes that they can spur action.

Contact author: Phak Seangly

Forest Fire Forestry Global HAZE International SOUTHEAST ASIA THAILAND

Bangkok issues air pollution warning

BANGKOK • Residents of Bangkok, one of the world’s top tourist destinations, were warned yesterday that the city’s air quality had hit dangerous levels, just days after the pollution control agency appealed to residents to wear face masks.

Air pollution in the Thai capital has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, with residents complaining of smog and respiratory problems. Some schools were closed yesterday while others kept children indoors.

Air Quality Index (AQI) formulas usually include up to six main pollutants including PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone.

Forestry HAZE International Regional

Thai capital known for tourist sites chokes in polluted haze

BANGKOK (AP) — A cloud of unhealthy haze has settled across the Thai capital, shrouding the gilded temples and towering skyscrapers that draw millions of tourists to the city each year.

The country’s Pollution Control Department said Thursday that concentrations of tiny particles known as PM 2.5 that are a benchmark measure of air quality were almost double the levels considered safe.

Department officials blamed high humidity for contributing to the haze, while environmentalists cited the capital’s famously traffic-choked streets.

Forest Fire Forestry Global HAZE Hotspots INDONESIA International Regional RFMRC-SEA

Asian Games should remain unaffected by forest fires: President

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Implementation of the ASIAN Games in Indonesia should not be affected by smoke arising from forest and land fires, according to President Joko Widodo.

The 18th Asian Games will be organized from Aug 18 to Sept 2 at the Bung Karno Sports Arena of Jakarta and Jakabaring Sports City of Palembang in South Sumatra Province.

“This year, we host the ASIAN Games in Jakarta and Palembang. I remind you to not let the smoke from forest and land fires arise during the implementation of the event,” Widodo noted during a briefing to participants of the National Coordination Meeting on Forest and Land Fire Control in 2018 at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He pointed out that smoke from forest and land fires will tarnish the image of Indonesia and disrupt flights during the ASIAN Games.

“We have to work hard to ensure that the ASIAN Games run smoothly without any disturbance from forest and land fires,” he stated.

Reported by Joko Susilo
(T.M052/A/KR-BSR/F001)

Forest Fire Forestry Global HAZE Hotspots INDONESIA International Regional

Jokowi pledges fewer forest fires for this year

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent

JAKARTA – President Joko Widodo has reminded all Indonesian officials on the need to continue to prevent forest and plantation fires, noting that the leaders of Malaysia and Singapore had praised him for the progress made so far.

The Indonesian leader said he had issued a guarantee of fewer forest fires for this year. (2018).

“In 2015, every time I met with the Singapore and Malaysian prime ministers and they complained to me about the haze,” the president said at a national coordination meeting at Merdeka Palace on forest and plantation fire mitigation on Tuesday (Feb 6).

Uncategorized

Titik Api Muncul, Pemerintah Gerak Cepat Padamkan Kebakaran Hutan

Liputan6.com, Jakarta – Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (KLHK) telah meningkatkan kesiapsiagaan dalam pengendalian kebakaran hutan dan lahan (karhutla).

Hal ini seiring terpantaunya 22 titik panas yang tersebar di Aceh, Sumatera Barat, Bengkulu, Sulawesi Selatan, Sulawesi Tengah, dan Sulawesi Tenggara melalui Satelit TERRA-AQUA, Sabtu, 3 Februari 2018, malam.

Brigade Pengendalian Kebakaran Hutan dan Lahan (Dalkarhutla) KLHK–Manggala Agni, telah melakukan pemantauan dan pemadaman dini pada lokasi titik panas.

Direktur PKHL KLHK Raffles B. Pandjaitan mengatakan Manggala Agni Daops Malili telah memadamkan api di lahan warga di Desa Ussu, Kecamatan Malili, Kabupaten Luwu Timur, Sulawesi Selatan.

Reed more Titik Api Muncul, Pemerintah Gerak Cepat Padamkan Kebakaran Hutan

Uncategorized

Plan to protect Indonesian peatlands with aerial mapping wins US$1m prize

JAKARTA: A plan to use satellite imagery and aerial mapping to protect Indonesia’s peatlands – a vast carbon sink and source of much of the country’s greenhouse emissions – was awarded a US$1 million prize on Friday (Feb 2).

The cutting-edge technology will be used by authorities to clamp down on illegal clearance of the land for plantations, helping to prevent a repeat of annual forest fires that plague the region while also reducing the country’s carbon footprint.

The government, with the support of international partners, came up with the idea of a competition two years ago to help achieve its commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Forest Fire Forestry Global Hotspots International Regional

Indonesia unveils plan to halve forest fires by 2019

by Hans Nicholas Jong on 29 December 2017

JAKARTA – The Indonesian government has unveiled an ambitious plan to nearly halve the number of fire hotspots in the country by 2019, in part through the restoration of degraded peat forests.

The fires are an annual occurrence, linked to the clearing of forests for logging and monoculture plantations. In recent years the problem has been exacerbated by the draining of peat swamps, which leaves them highly combustible.

Under the new plan revealed Tuesday by the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, the government aims to tackle the fires through a two-pronged approach.

First is ensuring that the 24,000 square kilometers (9,266 square miles) of degraded peat areas slated to be restored by Indonesia’s peatland restoration agency (BRG) are not burned. Second is boosting prevention efforts in 731 villages in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo, identified as being historically prone to fires.

In all, the plan calls for the protection of 121,000 square kilometers (46,718 square miles) of land, which, if kept successfully free of fire by 2019, will reduce the anticipated number of hotspots by 49 percent compared to business-as-usual levels.

Reed more Indonesia unveils plan to halve forest fires by 2019

Economy Forest Fire RFMRC-SEA

Singapore and the Smoke Haze Crisis

Vol. 53, Issue No. 3, 20 Jan, 2018

The 2013 and 2015 episodes of smoke haze over Singapore were some of the worst environmental crises in the nation’s history. Severe haze caused by land clearance fires in Indonesia blanketed Singapore for more than a month each time, leading to a dramatic shift in public attention and policies regarding the nation’s engagement with its neighbouring resource-extractive economies. This article reads the development of this crisis through the myth of the “air-conditioned nation,” arguing that it presents an opportunity to reconnect capitalism and regionalisation with their consequences.

(more…)

Author: RFMRC SEA

UK satellites to help monitor ASEAN forest fires

UK satellites to help monitor ASEAN forest fires

Still no action taken on threatening of forest patroller

Still no action taken on threatening of forest patroller

Bangkok issues air pollution warning

Thai capital known for tourist sites chokes in polluted haze

Asian Games should remain unaffected by forest fires: President

Jokowi pledges fewer forest fires for this year

Titik Api Muncul, Pemerintah Gerak Cepat Padamkan Kebakaran Hutan

Plan to protect Indonesian peatlands with aerial mapping wins US$1m prize

Indonesia unveils plan to halve forest fires by 2019

Singapore and the Smoke Haze Crisis

Vol. 53, Issue No. 3, 20 Jan, 2018

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