Thick haze spread in Sumatra, schools shut
Thousands of schools were shut in Sumatra this week due to worsening haze from forest and land burnings as fire hotspots were detected in concession and non-concession areas, media reports said.
Thousands of schools were shut in Sumatra this week due to worsening haze from forest and land burnings as fire hotspots were detected in concession and non-concession areas, media reports said.
EoF analysed that fire hotspots that NASA Fire VIIRS satellite detected more in Riau province either in peatland or mineral soil as 179 hotspots found in industrial timber plantations (HTI) concessions alone.
At least six industrial timber plantation concessions in Riau province were detected to have fire hotspots on 26 and 27 July as Eyes on the Forest team analysed based on satellite data by NASA FIRM VIIRS with confidence of nominal (medium).
Riau Province Government set emergency status of forest and land fires that effective from 19 February to 31 October 2019 following the intense burnings and haze in Bengkalis district, Dumai city, and Meranti islands district.
Civil society organizations in Riau entered a key moment as civilian lawsuit against government officials was tried in Pekanbaru district court on 30 March 2016
Carbon stock, APP, emission, fires, forest fires, gambut, haze, palm oil, peatland, Riau, sawit, wood supply
Fires in Indonesia continues unabated. An early estimate by the Indonesian government of the haze crisis cost this year was as high as 465 trillion rupiah (US$34 billion).
Eyes on the Forest (EoF) supports Riau police to name 16 out of 18 timber plantation suppliers and palm oil plantations suspects of forest and land burning in 2015.
EoF News (PEKANBARU)— Eyes on the Forest published NASA’s FIRMS MODIS fire hotspots data and satellite images on its interactive map to allow easy monitoring of current and past fires in Sumatran concessions of the Sinar Mas Group/Asia Pulp & Paper and others.
Sinar Mas Group (SMG) and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) last week denied publicly that their companies are involved in ongoing forest and land fires. Eyes on the Forest coalition said that media stunt by the giant company is ridiculous and hard to trust.
Eyes on the Forest today published a new animation it produced using MODIS True Color Terra images since 17 August 2015. The animation shows smokes coming out of Asia Pulp & Paper's own PT. Rimba Hutani Mas concession in South Sumatra.
Eyes on the Forest found two Landsat images showing fires in and around concessions of four Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) suppliers in peat areas in Jambi and South Sumatra provinces and heavy smokes from them.
Indonesia Police Headquarters named PT BMH as a suspect of forest fires in South Sumatra and it is the second time the timber supplier of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) convicted to the crime following its legal status in February last year.
President Joko Widodo called stern measures against companies involved in forest and land fires burning by rescinding their licenses, media report said today.
Kalimantan, Carbon stock, Biodiversity loss, Pulp & paper, What companies can do, Adindo Hutani Lestari, AHL, APRIL, commitment, deforestasi, deforestation, EoF, fire burning, forest fire, forest fires, gambut, GAPETA Borneo, haze, kalimantan, karhutla, moratorium, palm oil, peatland, pulp & paper, SFMP
Eyes on the Forest says APRIL unable to provide evidence that PT Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) in North Kalimantan, an APRIL timber supplier, did not clear natural forest after 15 May, the day when APRIL pledged to halt its forest clearing in its modified Sustainable Forest Management Policy. EoF had reported this moratorium violation on 22 June.
NGOs in West Kalimantan analyzed that 217 fires hotspots detected by NASA Firms Eosdis during 28 June – 6 July 2015. 124 out of 217 hotspots or 57 percent was found in palm oil concessions and by districts, Kubu Raya is the most area hit by fires with 81 and followed by Ketapang and Sambas with 44 and 36 respectively.
Riau province is raged by forest and land fires where EoF analyzed based on NASA Firms Eosdis Data that total 426 fires hostspots detected during June 2015.
A supplier of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) in North Kalimantan cleared natural forest on peatland in violation of APRIL’s recently launched 2nd version of the Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP).
Analysis by Eyes on the Forest coalition finds that Bengkalis district hit the most fire hotspots during March 2015 and PT Riau Rokan Lestari (RRL), a non-affiliated timber supplier concession got the most along with APRIL-affiliated PT Sumatera Riang Lestari (SRL).
At least 163 fire hotspots detected in Riau between 1-5 March 2015 as NASA FIRMS Eosdis Data that analyzed by Eyes on the Forest this week.
Fires hotspots still haunt Riau province as in recent week there were 114 fire hotspots that analyzed by Eyes on the Forest based on NASA Firms EOSDIS Data, and Bengkalis district still the area mostly suffered by fires with 62 hotspots.
The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo, accompanied by the Minister of Forestry and Environment Siti Nurbaya, came to Riau province last week to monitor the burned forest areas that caused haze in Sungai Tohor village, Meranti Islands District, media reported.
Field investigator team set up by Ministry of Environment (MoE) found strong evidences of the involvement of 23 plantations and industrial timber plantation (HTI) companies of a total of 43 firms investigated in forest and land fires case which had caused severe haze in the beginning of this year, media reported.
A number of environmental communities and organizations participated in ‘Melawan Asap’ (Fighting against Smoke) action and made speech along their protest in the front of Zapin Monument and Riau Governor Office, Pekanbaru, on Monday (10/3). On this seventeenth ‘anniversary’ of Riau fires and smog disaster, they demanded immediate and serious handling from the central government and the provincial government of Riau.
The second week of month showed the most fire hotspots found in Riau province since fires and haze returned from January. There are total 1605 hotspots detected accumulatively in the province based on NASA Modis Fire monitoring in period of 13-19 February.
As the man-made catastrophe of forest fire and haze returns to Riau, citizens of Pelalawan have to leave their homes and be on the alert to prevent fire coming to their remaining land, while some students fainted as schools closed in the district and the province’s capital city.
Fires hotspots likely got its peak this month on Tuesday (27 August) seeing the 5th largest number of hotspots (758) recorded since 1 June this year, as 26% of that found inside the Tesso Nilo complex.
Last month’s Riau forest fire catastrophe apparently comes to re-occur in this month. Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) of Pekanbaru recorded a significant increase on the numbers of hotspots detected in Riau Province in the last five days which reached to 230 hotspots.
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Sumatra’s Riau province is suffering Indonesia’s worst fire season in recent years with serious smoke choking the region and neighboring Singapore and southern Malaysia. Eyes on the Forest has been tracking forest and land cover change and those who drive it in Riau since the early 1990s.
At least 6772 fires hotspots were detected accumulatively in Riau Province in period of 1-23 June 2013, based on MODIS Fires satellite monitoring that analyzed by Eyes on the Forest this week.
A new analysis by Eyes on the Forest (EoF) finds that the “forest conservation policy” published in February by one of the world’s largest pulp and paper producers, the Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), appears to be yet another attempt to hide the vast deforestation and damages.
Satellite data for the first six months of 2009 show that Riau Province had the largest number of fire “hotspots” in Indonesia: 4,782. And nearly one-quarter of the Riau fires happened within concessions affiliated with Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper company.
PEKANBARU (EoF News)-- Firefighters desperately struggled to extinguish forest and land fires in Riau Province as residents suffered upper respiratory problems due to worsening quality of air, while airport administrators delayed flights, media reports said.
PEKANBARU (EoF News)—At least 229 hotspots were detected by satellite in Riau province during 1-15 June 2009 where pulpwood plantation concessions (HTI) had 79 hotspots, and Selective Logging Concessions (HPH) have been hit with 66 hotspots.
PEKANBARU (EoF News)— Efforts to distinguish escalating forest and land fires in Riau faced tough challenges as the Riau Provincial Government imposed Alert I status against the disaster yesterday and deploy 200 firefighters as fires hit seven districts and municipality in the province.
Pekanbaru (EoF News) – Thick smog blanketing Pekanbaru of Riau capital Friday amid five ASEAN environmental ministers’ meeting to solve deteriorating haze problem. Riau Police office dispersed rallies staged by conservationist NGOs outside a hotel where delegates of the meeting stay. Police dismissed forcefully the protesters mostly from Walhi Riau and Jikalahari NGOs before the ministers passed them.
Pekanbaru (EoF News) – Tera Modis satellite detected that there were 521 hotspots appeared from Oct.1 to Oct.7. It escalated quite higher than Sep 22-30 period with only 103 hotspots.
The Indonesian Government promised its neighboring countries that haze problem caused by forest and land fires will be tackled by 2 September. In Riau, police detained 58 suspects for allegedly set fires, but none represented companies.
Deputy Minister of Environment for Natural Conservation and Environmental Degradation Management, Masnellyarti Hilman, said in Balikpapan of East Kalimantan Thursday that those companies allegedly responsible for forest fires as detected by overlay of hotspots and HPH or HTI concession maps followed by crosschecks with data from Forestry Ministry and Agriculture Ministry, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported Friday (Aug. 25).
Air pollution in major Southeast Asian and Chinese cities ranks among the worst in the world and contributes to the deaths of about 500,000 people each year, said Michal Krzyzanowski, an air quality specialist at the WHO’s European Center for Environment and Health in Bonn, Germany. Drifting smoke from purposely set forest fires in Indonesia caused Malaysia to declare a state of emergency last week in two areas outside Kuala Lumpur. Parts of Thailand were also blanketed in the haze. Malaysian health officials said hospitals reported a 150 percent increase in breathing problems and seven people who had a history of respiratory problems reportedly died.
Inconvenience due to poor visibility and unhealthy condition caused by polluted haze alarmed South East Asia region again as forest fires raging in Sumatra –including Riau—and Kalimantan islands.
Indonesian authorities have vowed to take action against anyone setting fires and taken a series of other measures.
Several NGOs are calling on the Government to stop granting concessions for conversion and land clearing on peatlands, citing data that shows the major factor inciting this year's forest fires is forest conversion, mainly on peat soil sites.
Forest fires escalated in Riau province where two protected forests set ablaze and thick haze suffered the province areas in recent days. More hotspots detected and the haze spilled over neighboring countries, reports said.
Hotspots report that received by EoF said that after July 14, they escalate to 93 on Jul.15, 219 hotspots on Jul. 16, 66 on Jul.17 and the highest 228 hotspots on Jul.18.From Jul.1 to Jul.19 hotspots found inside HTI (Industrial Timber Plantation) concession is 204, while outside is 514. While hotspots found in oil palm plantation is 158 during the period. Hotspots detected on concession of companies associated to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is 42 and to Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL) is 33 hotspots.
Visiting Head of DPR’s Commission VII Agusman Effendi said in Pekanbaru Friday (Jul.14) that worries appeared in neighboring countries over haze caused by forest fires have created ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement where each of its members should ratify it.
Pemantauan Pembakaran Hutan dan Lahan di Perkebunan PT Guntung Hasrat Makmur - November 2015
Pengecekan lapangan oleh EoF berdasarkan catatan titik api tersebar di konsesi PT Arara Abadi (grup APP/Sinar Mas).