POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - As of mid-September this year, satellite monitoring by the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry shows that the number of hotspots with a confidence level of 80% or more - which indicates potential forest and land fire spots - is way down by more than 90% compared to the same period last year.
This update represents further great progress from the situation as previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 4) in which there had been a nearly 80% decline in potential fire spots from early January to early September 2020 compared to the same period last year.
More specifically, using NASA Terra/Aqua satellite data, the ministry demonstrates that from 1 January - 15 September 2019, the number of hotspots with a confidence level equivalent to 80% or more stood at 13,711, whereas the corresponding figure over the same period this year is a mere 1,479, a dramatic drop of 90.26%.
The continuing sharp fall in potential fire spots during this period is also mirrored by a decrease in the level of haze-causing fires to a similar extent.
The following graphs, which refer to ministry data updated at 07:00 Western Indonesia Time today (Sep 15), depict the level of decline in potential forest and land fire spots as of mid-September 2020 compared to the same period last year.
Pandemic-induced complications
Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya used a slideshow to explain to parliament (Sep 14) the remarkably sharp decline in the extent of forest and land fires. This is aligned with a sharp drop in the level of potential fire spots in September 2020.
As of mid-September this year, amid the continuing spread of COVID-19, the Indonesian government has proven itself extremely competent at handling haze-causing fires. The trend of a falling level of fires is expected to continue until next month.
Minister Nurbaya, as previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in late March this year, has emphasized the importance of anticipating complications in combating haze-causing fires amid the pandemic situation.
Such potential complications - caused by fires burning at the same time as the pandemic rages - are among the reasons why President Joko Widodo issued an order for permanent solutions to be executed this year to extinguish haze-causing fires so as to prevent a recurrence of last year, as also reported earlier by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Jul 3).
The efforts undertaken within the corridor of finding such permanent solutions, as previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 4), have been astonishingly successful, as reflected in the results that have emerged in mid-September this year.
While the serious wildfires ravaging California, as well as those in the Amazon, have made global headlines, the fear of fires on a similar scale in Indonesia, exacerbated by pandemic-induced complications, has not become a reality as of mid-September this year. This can only be perceived as great news.
RELATED STORIES
POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - As of mid-September this year, satellite monitoring by the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry shows that the number of hotspots with a confidence level of 80% or more - which indicates potential forest and land fire spots - is way down by more than 90% compared to the same period last year.
This update represents further great progress from the situation as previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 4) in which there had been a nearly 80% decline in potential fire spots from early January to early September 2020 compared to the same period last year.
More specifically, using NASA Terra/Aqua satellite data, the ministry demonstrates that from 1 January - 15 September 2019, the number of hotspots with a confidence level equivalent to 80% or more stood at 13,711, whereas the corresponding figure over the same period this year is a mere 1,479, a dramatic drop of 90.26%.
The continuing sharp fall in potential fire spots during this period is also mirrored by a decrease in the level of haze-causing fires to a similar extent.
The following graphs, which refer to ministry data updated at 07:00 Western Indonesia Time today (Sep 15), depict the level of decline in potential forest and land fire spots as of mid-September 2020 compared to the same period last year.
Pandemic-induced complications
Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya used a slideshow to explain to parliament (Sep 14) the remarkably sharp decline in the extent of forest and land fires. This is aligned with a sharp drop in the level of potential fire spots in September 2020.
As of mid-September this year, amid the continuing spread of COVID-19, the Indonesian government has proven itself extremely competent at handling haze-causing fires. The trend of a falling level of fires is expected to continue until next month.
Minister Nurbaya, as previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS in late March this year, has emphasized the importance of anticipating complications in combating haze-causing fires amid the pandemic situation.
Such potential complications - caused by fires burning at the same time as the pandemic rages - are among the reasons why President Joko Widodo issued an order for permanent solutions to be executed this year to extinguish haze-causing fires so as to prevent a recurrence of last year, as also reported earlier by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Jul 3).
The efforts undertaken within the corridor of finding such permanent solutions, as previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 4), have been astonishingly successful, as reflected in the results that have emerged in mid-September this year.
While the serious wildfires ravaging California, as well as those in the Amazon, have made global headlines, the fear of fires on a similar scale in Indonesia, exacerbated by pandemic-induced complications, has not become a reality as of mid-September this year. This can only be perceived as great news.
RELATED STORIES
