LOCAL HEART SURGEON HONOURED WITH PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL AWARD RECOGNISING WORK DONE…New Web Hosting Pioneer Emerges, Offering Affordable Hosting Solutions Coupled with…Indonesia’s 2023 fire season saw 1.16 million hectares of land and forest go up in flames, and while this was five times higher than in 2022, experts highlight a positive trend.
But a worrying trend highlighted by the numbers is that severe fires are now occurring in four-year cycles, intensified and exacerbated by the impacts of a changing climate. “Indeed, the government and the private sector already have strong commitments for fires,” Arief told Mongabay. “Even large concessions are working together with the people to tackle fires.”
“So far, the legal actions that we’ve taken have proved to have an impact on stopping the destruction of the environment ,” said Jasmin Ragil Utomo, the environment ministry’s director of environmental dispute settlement.a 2,800-hectare concession in Southeast Sulawesi province. Some 80% of the concession is carbon-rich peatland, which plantation operators usually dry out by digging canals to drain the wet peat soil.
“Burning intact rainforest is more difficult than burning shrubs and unmanaged lands, those that have been degraded and left unmanaged. These are easier to burn,” Arief said.