JAKARTA - Indonesia still relies on weather modification technology to prevent forest and land fires due to dry dry dry dry season which is predicted to occur in 2023. "At the end of February or mid-March, we have started operations, because usually the President will order no smoke," said Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya in Jakarta, Friday, January 20, quoted from Antara. Implementation of weather modification technology previously known as artificial rain technology is part of efforts to prevent forest and land fires by means of peat wetting. The method was effective when dealing with forest and land fires that occurred in 2020. Siti has coordinated with various related parties, including the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs; Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), to law enforcement officers and local governments.
From data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, there are 66 fire points with an area of 459 hectares that occurred in 11 provinces in Indonesia starting from January 1 to 19, 2023. In 2022, the area of forest and land fires in Indonesia reached 204,000 hectares. This number decreased from 2021, as many as 358,000 hectares. Previously, the BMKG stated that forest fire disasters were predicted to increase in 2023 which is potentially the same as what happened in 2019.
The increasingly weakened and neutral La Nina phenomenon causes rainfall to decrease, thus potentially creating hotspots in forest and land areas. Even the neutral condition is very close to being narrowed by the weak condition of El Nino. BMKG predicts that the rainfall this year will decrease when compared to the rainfall in 2022 and three years ago, even though it is still the peak of the rainy season. "The Minister has conveyed preparations for this (modified weather) starting March, God willing, it will be much earlier. April's concerns have started (official), so March has started moving," said BMKG Head Dwikorita Karnawati.
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