Blazes consume Indonesian forests

– The amount of land in Indonesia consumed by fires last month alone exceeded 2018 in its entirety.

Raffles Panjaitan, forest fire management acting director at the forestry and environment ministry, said by the end of last month 857 756ha had been burned. That is more than the 529 267ha that burned in 2018, according to Indonesian government data.

The fires have consumed the most land since 2015, when government data showed 2.6 million hectares burned.

The area burned surged from 328 724ha that was consumed between January and August, Panjaitan said, and added the size of the burned area is expected to continue expanding this month, although not “as drastic” as last month’s.

“Fire fighting is continued to be carried out, even today the teams are on the working to prevent escalation,” Panjaitan said.

The country has spent months battling forest fires in Sumatra and Borneo that have caused thick haze which drifted over neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

Rain has started falling in Sumatra which has offered some respite, but Panjaitan does not expect the rainy season to fully arrive until around mid-November.

Forest and peat fires typically take place in Sumatra and Borneo, often linked to slash-and-burn practices to clear areas for palm cultivation.

However, Panjaitan warned that there are rising cases of fire in Java island, including in conservation areas.

Last Sunday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said four hikers were evacuated from Mount Ranti in East Java due to forest fire. –