Indonesia intensifies forest fire response to curb transboundary haze

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia is intensifying efforts to tackle forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan to prevent smoke from spreading across borders, the Environment Ministry said on Monday.

Deputy for Environmental Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Environment/Environmental Control Agency Rizal Irawan said firefighting operations were being carried out on a large scale through ground and aerial operations.

“Some communities in Kalimantan and Sumatra are currently facing forest and land fires, along with declining air quality. Aerial operations involve dozens of helicopters and aircraft deployed for water bombing and weather modification,” Rizal said.

He said thousands of personnel from various agencies were also on standby around the clock at fire-prone locations as part of the ground operations.

The government has also stepped up regional monitoring to prevent forest fire smoke from developing into a transboundary haze crisis, following a ministerial meeting and technical working group on transboundary haze pollution held in Bali in July.

“Our efforts also extend to the regional level. Following the ministerial meeting and technical working group on transboundary haze pollution in Bali last July, together with neighboring countries, we are monitoring wind direction and smoke trajectories,” Rizal said.

He said the monitoring was aimed at preventing a transboundary haze crisis through scientific and transparent measures based on maps from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG).

The integrated response combines firefighting operations on the ground and from the air with regional monitoring as Indonesia seeks to contain forest and land fires and limit the risk of cross-border smoke pollution.

The measures are also intended to help protect public health and the environment by identifying and addressing the potential spread of smoke as early as possible.