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Peatland News

Title: Indonesia prepares early to fight haze
Date: 24-Jan-2017
Category: Indonesia-Peatland,Haze and Fire
Source/Author: The Straits Times
Description: It is months before the dry season, but Indonesian President Joko Widodo said now is the time to take action to prevent a repeat of the 2015 haze crisis, given that drier weather is expected this year.

It is months before the dry season, but Indonesian President Joko Widodo said now is the time to take action to prevent a repeat of the 2015 haze crisis, given that drier weather is expected this year.

"Dryness has begun to show," he told ministers, governors and senior officials yesterday at the national coordination meeting on land and forest fire control, as he urged them not to be complacent.

"We remember that the fires in 2015 had driven us all helter-skelter. And that's because the fires had already spread and become huge, so whatever we did was in vain as it was already burning," he said.

 

"That's why we must all now anticipate to ensure the 2015 fire incident does not recur."

The El Nino phenomenon, which brought prolonged hot and dry weather, triggered wildfires in Indonesia in 2015 and shrouded the region in thick haze. The La Nina weather pattern last year had the opposite effect.

 

With the return of the regular weather pattern this year, officials have predicted drier weather during the dry months, typically from April to October, but are not expecting the haze crisis of 2015.

Mr Joko noted that early fire prevention efforts last year helped to "drastically" lower the number of hot spots and the area razed by fires by around 83 per cent compared with the previous year.

But he is now aiming for a "100 per cent fall". "I know it's going to be very difficult but we must work hard to anticipate," he said.

He called on local governments to declare emergency status early in fire-prone, peat-rich areas such as Riau, East and West Kalimantan, and Papua provinces so that assistance can be deployed quickly.

Other strategies include more frequent field patrols, more canal-blocking to keep peatlands moist, and tougher law reinforcement to punish arsonists, including errant plantation companies.

"No more warnings in 2017, we will just freeze or revoke (their operating permits)," he said.

Wildfires in 2015 resulted in economic losses worth about 220 trillion rupiah (S$23.39 billion), which Mr Joko said was "a very huge figure". The fires affected biodiversity, destroyed 2.6 million ha of biodiversity habitats and left about 504,000 people, including children, with respiratory problems, he added.

He said: "So early on in January, we want all to understand and realise that the impact of many hot spots brought about by the land and forest fires will really affect everything."



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