Sumatra, Carbon stock, Biodiversity loss, Pulp & paper, Palm oil, APP, APRIL, forest fires, haze, hotspot, peatland, tesso nilo,
Poor air quality in cities due to haze
EoF News / 10 August 2019
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.
Main suppliers of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL)/RGE and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) / Sinar Mas are among companies which many hotspots found during 1-8 August that analysed by EoF based on NASA Fire VIIRS satellite. PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) sectors of Pelalawan, Baserah and Logas Selatan are main supplier of APRIL. While, PT Arara Abadi district Siak Berbari is main supplier of APP detected to have fire hotspots.
Other names that analysed by EoF are: PT Bina Daya Bintara, PT Sari Hijau Mutiara, PT Sumatera Riang Lestari block 3 and block 6, PT Perkasa Baru, and PT Nusa Prima Manunggal (all APRIL’s suppliers.) From APP are: PT Satria Perkasa Agung Pulau Muda, PT Rimba Mandau Lestari, PT Bina Duta Laksana, PT Mutiara Sabuk Khatulistiwa, PT Balai Kayang Mandiri, PT Ruas Utama Jaya, and PT Suntara Gajapati.
The other concessions are former APP suppliers: PT Artelindo Wiratama, PT Rimba Rokan Perkasa (now included in PIPPIB moratorium area), and PT Inhil Hutani Pratama.
Tesso Nilo National Park is a conservation area that severely hit by forest/land fires. Poor law enforcement had dragged this park to be burnt again which believed for palm oil expansion illegally.
PT Sumber Sawit Sejahtera, a palm oil plantation in Pelalawan, was named suspect of forest/land fires by the Riau Police, said its Chief, Widodo Eko Prihastopo, on Friday.
Media reports said air quality in Pekanbaru worsened on Saturday as thick haze blanketed the city amid information from Riau Province Government that 3878 residents of the province suffered Upper Respiratory Tract Infection due to air pollution from haze. Pekanbaru, Siak, and Dumai are some areas impacted by haze.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency said that Riau, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Jambi, South Sumatra, and South Kalimantan were impacted by forest/land fires.