List Of Areas That Will Get More Attention From KLHK Regarding Forest Fire Control

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JAKARTA - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) said that forest and land fire control is currently being focused on areas prone to peat areas, including the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"During the dry season or in conditions where it rarely rains, areas with peat areas will become a common concern for anticipatory steps," said Director of Forest and Land Fire Control at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Basar Manullang, as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, May 10.

He said that currently forest fire control is being focused on several vulnerable areas, especially in Sumatra, namely Riau, South Sumatra, Jambi and North Sumatra.

Control efforts are also carried out in Kalimantan, namely West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan.

He explained that currently there has been a decrease in rainfall in parts of Sumatra, with the potential for other provinces to enter a dry period in May-June 2022.

This potential decrease in rainfall causes an increase in the vulnerability of forest and land fires.

For this reason, he mentioned the need for community participation, especially at the site level, to determine efforts to prevent forest and land fires.

According to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, based on the Terra/Aqua satellite monitoring for the period January 1 to May 9, 2022, it monitored 221 hotspots, with 228 points in the same period in 2021.

"So it can be concluded that so far there has been a decline in the number of hotspots by seven points. This is inseparable from the efforts to control forest and land fires by the parties in the field," he said.

Some of these steps are weather modification technology operations on April 14-28 2022, water bombing, and air patrols in Riau. Integrated and independent patrols were also carried out in five villages prone to forest and land fires in the province.