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

Indonesia Peatland Swap Plan Questioned Over Deforestation Risk

Indonesia Peatland Swap Plan Questioned Over Deforestation Risk

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Bac Lieu bird sanctuary faces high risk of fires

Bac Lieu bird sanctuary faces high risk of fires

Last update 11:24 | 14/03/2018
The Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu is facing a level-4 risk of fires, which is likely to be raised to level 5, the level of extreme danger, said the sanctuary management board on March 13.

The lengthy hot spell brought high temperatures to the Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary that dry canals and make plants more flammable, putting it on high alert for fires

In response to the situation, the management board has worked on shifts round the clock to watch out for the possible fires, cleared bushes and dredged canals over the past month.

It has also mobilized about 40 local residents living nearby to stay ready for any emergency while households living around the park’s buffer zone have been provided training on forest protection and asked to sign commitments that they will not set a fire in the forests.

On March 13, the board teamed up with the local firefighter police to conduct a firefighting exercise with more than 100 people in attendance.

Located in Nha Mat ward, the Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary is only 7km from downtown Bac Lieu city. The 130-hectare park is home to over 60,000 birds, belonging to about 100 species, many of which are in danger.-VNA

Mekong Delta works to prevent forest fires

Mekong Delta works to prevent forest fires

Last update 10:49 | 12/03/2018

Provinces in the Mekong Delta have stepped up efforts to prevent forest fires as the region is entering the highly risky dry season.

In the southernmost province of Ca Mau, many measures have been put in place, especially to protect the 8,500ha U Minh Ha National Park.

Water in the higher parts of the park have been drying out since the beginning of this month and the threat of forest fire is high, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Huynh Minh Nguyen, director of the park, said rangers have taken positions in watch towers to monitor the park around the clock.

They also regularly patrol the park to prevent people from entering to collect honey, hunt or fish, activities that could cause fires.

More than 5,000 families living in the park’s buffer zone and cajeput forests have been mobilized to help fight forest fires.

The department has called on private individuals managing forests to implement preventive measures against fires.

Forest management units should regularly assess the dryness to take proper fire-prevention measures and teach local households how to prevent fires, it said.

This month the hot weather peaks in the south, according to the South Centre for Hydrometeorology Forecasting.

In An Giang province, districts with large forest areas including Tinh Bien and Tri Ton are in a state of preparedness to prevent fires, said Tran Phu Hoa, head of the province Forest Protection Sub-department., adding that Tinh Bien alone has more than 6,270ha of forests that face the risk of fires.

Kien Giang province has seven areas that face fire risks, namely U Minh Thuong National Park, Phu Quoc National Park, Phu Quoc protective forest, Hon Dat – Kien Ha protective forest, An Bien – An Minh coastal protective forest, and a forest managed by the 422 Forestry Plantation Project.

The provincial People’s Committee has issued orders to strengthen fire prevention measures.

Kien Giang has 86,450ha of zoned forests, accounting for 13.6 percent of its total area, according to its Forest Protection Sub-department.

It has spent more than 10 billion VND (440,000 USD) on preparations to prevent forest fires this year.

Truong Thanh Hao, head of the local Forest Protection Sub-department, said the province had instructed local forest rangers, the police, army, and militia to work closely to prevent fires.

The province has built temporary dams and dredged wells in forests to store water, cleared dried branches and bushes in forests and established firebreaks.

Forest management units have stepped up checks and will close the forests at the peak of the dry season.-VNA

Read more: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/196976/mekong-delta-works-to-prevent-forest-fires.html

Fire destroys 40ha of forest in Gia Lai

Fire destroys 40ha of forest in Gia Lai

Update: March, 11/2018 – 13:00

Viet Nam News 
GIA LAI — A fire that broke out in the Ia Grai protection forest in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai was brought under control on Sunday morning.
However, more than 40ha of a forest, comprising pine trees planted in 2015, was destroyed.
Lê Tiến Hiệp, head of the forest’s management board, said that the fire occurred on Friday afternoon.
More than 200 people from the management board, provincial Border Guards and local residents from Ia Chía and Ia O communes were called to extinguish the fire.
The team managed to temporarily halt the fire on Friday night. However, due to dry conditions and strong winds, the flames reappeared. Ia Grai District authorities called for more firemen from Đức Cơ District to stamp out it.
Ia Grai District authorities kept a close watch on the scene to prevent the fire from re-occurring.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. — VNS

Read more: http://vietnamnews.vn/society/424149/fire-destroys-40ha-of-forest-in-gia-lai.html#Ta8Ig5jgRUbozGrX.97

Cambodia’s military crackdown recalls bloody ‘Kratie insurrection’

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Fire at 40 points in forest near Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar; sabotage suspected

Fire at 40 points in forest near Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar; sabotage suspected

Study reshapes the floral relationships between the world’s tropical forests

Study reshapes the floral relationships between the world’s tropical forests

Hannah Halusker, College of Science

March 8, 2018

CLEMSON, South Carolina – Research from more than 100 scientists across the world, including that of Clemson professor of biological sciences Saara DeWalt, has recently combined to show that the world’s tropical forests are more similar than scientists previously thought.

In 1994, DeWalt had just graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Brown University. Fully funded by a Fulbright Scholarship, DeWalt was able to conduct an ethnobotanical study in the lowland tropical forest of Bolivia. There, she assessed how an indigenous people called the Tacana made use of different tree and vine species in their everyday lives. To conduct the study, DeWalt led a forest inventory of trees near two Tacana communities.

More than two decades later, DeWalt’s documentation is part of a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that indicates that tropical forests can be grouped into two major regions based on the similarity of their flora: American and African tropical forests versus Indo-Pacific forests.

In addition to helping scientists reclassify the world’s tropical forests, the discovery supports what geologists know about the breakup of West Gondwana, an ancient supercontinent that contained what has since become Africa and South America.

In prior studies, researchers have attempted to understand how closely related forests in different parts of the world are by comparing how many tree species they share.

“For example, if two sites were compared, each with 100 individuals, and they shared 20 species, then we’d say the similarity of the two sites is 20 percent,” said Ferry Slik, the lead author of the study and an associate professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam Herbarium in Brunei, Borneo.

Read more: newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/study-reshapes-the-floral-relationships-between-the-worlds-tropical-forests/