Indonesia’s Peatland Restoration Agency is likely to have its tenure extended by four years. What has been achieved and what should the agency focus on for the next term?
Villagers of Sumatra and Kalimantan relunctant to participate in peatland restoration, contributing to the recent forest fires in Indonesia.
Forest fires hit parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan islands of Indonesia this year due to illegal slash-and-burn activities by companies and local people.
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Indonesia’s forest fires forensics, Bambang Hero Sahardjo, receives a prestigious award, John Maddox prize, opening hope for scientists to use scientific evidence for law enforcement.
More than 300,000 hectares of subtropical forest in Paraguay have burned since July due to illegal land clearing for agriculture, according to the National Security Ministry, Oct. 1, 2019.
AP Photo/Jorge Saenz
We have developed an online tool to help authorities identify which areas they should focus on for reducing forest fires and haze in order to maximize overall health benefits.
The hope is that building ‘a smart city in the forest’ in North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara regencies will ease Jakarta’s myriad problems. But it’s not that simple.
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The government has reportedly set aside 180,000 hectares of land for construction of a new capital in East Kalimantan.
As Amazon fires rage, Indonesia faces similar issues with peat fires that have been burning for several weeks in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Ministry of Environment and Forestry
Don’t blame climate change for the 39,000 forest fires now incinerating huge tracts of the Brazilian Amazon. This environmental catastrophe is human-made and highly political.
Entering the second term of his presidency, Jokowi administration needs to put forest and land fires as priority.
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The Indonesian government should improve transparency and public access to land-use data, make the ban on new plantations on primary forests permanent, and give communities access to forests.
A forest fire rages in California in November 2018.
AP Photo/Noah Berger
Detailed fire history information isn’t available for Mount Kenya, satellite information can help fill the gaps.
U.S. President Donald Trump is seen visiting the California town of Paradise that was devastated by forest fires. Trump has threatened to use funds allocated for disaster relief to pay for his border wall.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump has threatened to use funds allocated for disaster relief to fund his border wall. It’s time to rethink how we frame disasters to stop politicians from using them for political gain.
Fires and logging changes forest soil structure for at least 30-80+ years, affecting everything from regrowth to carbon storage.
A forest fire works its way through a wooded area in Saskatchewan in May 2018. High-income nations have benefitted enormously from fossil fuels and the wealthy should now foot the bill to combat climate change.
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A wealth tax would put a price on past emissions and could be used to mitigate the negative effects of poverty, including vulnerability to climate change.
A balanced research program should focus on good and rational peat management efforts that minimise environmental impacts, and on water regulation that reduces the risk of fire.
Mixed grill: burning combinations of invasive and native plants helps us understand how invasive plants make fires hotter and more likely.
Sarah Wyse
Tim Curran, Lincoln University, New Zealand; George Perry, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau e Sarah Wyse, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Wildfires are expected to increase in a warming world, but there is another way humans are changing the patterns and intensity of fires: by introducing flammable plants to new environments.