Minister Of Environment And Forestry: Central Government Struggles To Overcome Forest And Land Fires In Kalimantan And Sumatra

Illustration of forest fires (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK), Siti Nurbaya said the government is currently struggling to deal with forest and land fires (Karhutla). Siti mentioned that forest and land fires are currently hitting a number of provinces, such as Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra and partly in South Kalimantan. According to him, officers from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry are now taking to the field and struggling to deal with forest and land fires in a number of areas. We are currently struggling to overcome forest and land fires, especially in South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan. In addition, also in several other areas in Sumatra, Kalimantan and even Java. The government is committed to climate actions that are important to fulfill the protection of the community according to the Basic Law and also for global interests," Minister Siti explained during a working visit in East Java, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, October 3. Forest and land fires on the dry season are already at an disturbing level. Residents are forced to return to using masks as well as a number of delayed or diverted flights occur in Palangka Raya, Pontianak, as well as Pekanbaru in the past week. Siti admits that every week forest and land fires events in a number of regions always occur. On that basis, the Ministry of Environment follows every development and carries out monitoring while handling forest and land fires. "We are committed not to allow the impact of forest fires to extend or cause harm to society and the environment," he said. Furthermore, Minister Siti said that the issue of climate change is a big challenge, impacting weather change, meteorological disasters, floods, drought and calendar changes and planting patterns so as to influence the aspect of food supply.

In an effort to control climate change, KLHK as the National Focal Point in The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is preparing Indonesian delegates to engage in Conference of the Parties (COP) to 28 UNFCCC in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at the end of November this year. The atmosphere of COP 28 UNFCCC is accompanied by world problems, namely triplet planetary crisis which includes climate change, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity. This issue is a global challenge that is currently being faced and requires collaboration and cooperation both bilateral and multilateral in order to maintain a permanent future, namely planet Earth.