BUSINESS
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - While global fire emissions reached unprecedentedly high levels in July and August this year, as recently announced by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Indonesian palm oil and pulpwood concessions contributed close to 0% of these global records.
This almost zero percent contribution to global fire emissions is based on evidence from Indonesian forestry authorities showing just a tiny distribution of burned areas in palm oil and pulpwood concessions from January to August 2021.
Given that Indonesia was responsible for an estimated mere 0.25% and 0.36% of global fire emissions in July and August of 2021 respectively, as reported recently by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 27), the country can in no way be considered a major contributor to these highest ever levels of global fire emissions.
With contributions, both on a nationwide level as well as from palm oil and pulpwood concessions, amounting to little more than 0% based on the available evidence, Indonesia cannot be accused of being a major cause of the unparalleled global fire emissions seen in July and August.
The two charts below each show the level of burned areas in Indonesia until August 2021 - when record-high fire emissions were measured globally - spanning across palm oil and pulpwood concessions, as closely monitored by Indonesian forestry authorities.
The charts above not only confirm that Indonesia played an extremely minor part in contributing to the recent record global fire emissions, but also show that there were no substantial haze-causing fires in the country, thus avoiding any transboundary haze drifting into neighboring countries, as was also the case last year.
Tiny amounts of burned areas
Using ground and satellite-based monitoring, Indonesian forestry authorities closely observed more than 2.6 million hectares of palm oil concessions, an area greater than 35 times the size of Singapore, in six peat-rich provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The results of this demonstrated that only 783 hectares were burned from January to August 2021, or just 0.03% of the total observed area of these concessions.
This very small figure proves once again that Indonesian palm oil concessions are hardly culpable at all for the record-breaking global fire emissions, contributing a minute amount of almost zero percent.
Indonesian forestry authorities also looked at the distribution of burned areas in the country's pulpwood concessions which total more than 11 million hectares, the equivalent of more than 150 times the area of Singapore. Field and spatial observations revealed that these burned areas amounted to around 6,000 hectares, or 0.05% of the total pulpwood concessions area.
This remarkably low percentage similarly reconfirms Indonesia’s negligible role in contributing to the massive global fire emissions in July and August.
As of early October, Indonesia has managed to avoid any substantial haze-causing fires this year and is expected, in line with the target set by Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, to see out the rest of the month without any such fires occurring.
Nonetheless, as Minister Nurbaya has repeatedly stated, the authorities will remain on stand-by to carry out any efforts that may be required to prevent haze-causing fires this year, thus mirroring the extraordinary accomplishments of the first year of the pandemic.
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BUSINESS
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - While global fire emissions reached unprecedentedly high levels in July and August this year, as recently announced by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Indonesian palm oil and pulpwood concessions contributed close to 0% of these global records.
This almost zero percent contribution to global fire emissions is based on evidence from Indonesian forestry authorities showing just a tiny distribution of burned areas in palm oil and pulpwood concessions from January to August 2021.
Given that Indonesia was responsible for an estimated mere 0.25% and 0.36% of global fire emissions in July and August of 2021 respectively, as reported recently by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 27), the country can in no way be considered a major contributor to these highest ever levels of global fire emissions.
With contributions, both on a nationwide level as well as from palm oil and pulpwood concessions, amounting to little more than 0% based on the available evidence, Indonesia cannot be accused of being a major cause of the unparalleled global fire emissions seen in July and August.
The two charts below each show the level of burned areas in Indonesia until August 2021 - when record-high fire emissions were measured globally - spanning across palm oil and pulpwood concessions, as closely monitored by Indonesian forestry authorities.
The charts above not only confirm that Indonesia played an extremely minor part in contributing to the recent record global fire emissions, but also show that there were no substantial haze-causing fires in the country, thus avoiding any transboundary haze drifting into neighboring countries, as was also the case last year.
Tiny amounts of burned areas
Using ground and satellite-based monitoring, Indonesian forestry authorities closely observed more than 2.6 million hectares of palm oil concessions, an area greater than 35 times the size of Singapore, in six peat-rich provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The results of this demonstrated that only 783 hectares were burned from January to August 2021, or just 0.03% of the total observed area of these concessions.
This very small figure proves once again that Indonesian palm oil concessions are hardly culpable at all for the record-breaking global fire emissions, contributing a minute amount of almost zero percent.
Indonesian forestry authorities also looked at the distribution of burned areas in the country's pulpwood concessions which total more than 11 million hectares, the equivalent of more than 150 times the area of Singapore. Field and spatial observations revealed that these burned areas amounted to around 6,000 hectares, or 0.05% of the total pulpwood concessions area.
This remarkably low percentage similarly reconfirms Indonesia’s negligible role in contributing to the massive global fire emissions in July and August.
As of early October, Indonesia has managed to avoid any substantial haze-causing fires this year and is expected, in line with the target set by Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, to see out the rest of the month without any such fires occurring.
Nonetheless, as Minister Nurbaya has repeatedly stated, the authorities will remain on stand-by to carry out any efforts that may be required to prevent haze-causing fires this year, thus mirroring the extraordinary accomplishments of the first year of the pandemic.
RELATED STORIES
