Regional countries work to prevent haze pollution
Participants agreed that MSC countries
should work out supplementary measures against forest fires at a time
when the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) forecast
lower-than-average rainfalls in most parts of the southern region until
early October.
Additionally, the El Nino
phenomenon could develop in the second half of 2014, which will worsen
dry weather conditions, resulting in more hotspots that run a high risk
of wildfires, attendees said.
They also stressed the
significance of cross-border cooperation in putting the situation under
control, particularly in sharing experience in improving national and
regional mechanism to mitigate forest fires due to dry weather.
Indonesia was hailed for its efforts to carry out an action plan
dealing with trans-boundary haze pollution, as well as the country’s
commitment to accelerating the process of ratifying the ASEAN Agreement
on the field.
The meeting also reviewed the progress
of implementing the Rehabilitation and Sustainable Use of Peatland
Forests in Southeast Asia project and the SEApeat project piloted in
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
They took note of the encouraging outcomes in realising the ASEAN
programme on Sustainable Management of Peatland Ecosystems 2014-2020,
and confirmed sustainable management of fire prone areas, especially
peatlands, remains a top priority for fires and smoke haze prevention as
well as the mitigation of climate change impacts.-VNA