Illustrative image (Photo: Reuters) Jakarta (VNA) – Forest fires in Indonesia this year burned at least 1.6 million hectares of land, including peatlands.
The Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said on December 2 that satellite imagery from the first ten months of the year in seven provinces showed a majority of the fires was in lands cleared years ago.
According to the centre, 76 percent of burning occurred on idle lands. Those lands were forests a few years ago, but cycles of repeated burns have converted them to unproductive degraded scrublands. About 3 percent of the fires occurred on oil palm plantations.
Peatlands accounted for 41 percent of the total land burned, or 670,000 hectares, in Indonesia this year, said the CIFOR.
The Jambi and West Kalimantan provinces, which are important habitats for tigers and orangutans, saw some of the highest number of fires, the centre said./.
The Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said on December 2 that satellite imagery from the first ten months of the year in seven provinces showed a majority of the fires was in lands cleared years ago.
According to the centre, 76 percent of burning occurred on idle lands. Those lands were forests a few years ago, but cycles of repeated burns have converted them to unproductive degraded scrublands. About 3 percent of the fires occurred on oil palm plantations.
Peatlands accounted for 41 percent of the total land burned, or 670,000 hectares, in Indonesia this year, said the CIFOR.
The Jambi and West Kalimantan provinces, which are important habitats for tigers and orangutans, saw some of the highest number of fires, the centre said./.
VNA
