Jambi Province was able to suppress the burned land, from tens of hectares to 1,200-1,600 hectares
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) appointed the provinces of Jambi and South Kalimantan as pilot projects to handle forest and land fires in an integrated and planned manner.

"We will make these two provinces as pilot projects to manage forest and land fires in an integrated strategy," the ministry's Director General of Forestry Planning and Environmental Management, Hanif Faisol Nurofid, stated at a coordination meeting for handling forest and land fires in Jakarta, Wednesday.

He noted that the plan originated from the success of the two provinces in handling forest and land fire cases.

This is apparent from the forest and land fires that are considered to have been brought under control, with a decrease in burned land, from tens of thousands of hectares to only 1,200 to 1,600 hectares, Nurofid stated.

"Jambi Province was able to suppress the burned land, from tens of hectares to 1,200-1,600 hectares. The efforts were carried out with routine coordination," he remarked.

Nurofid attributed the reduction in forest and land fire areas in Jambi to two factors, with the first being the effort to prevent people from burning land while the second is preventing objects from easily catching fire.

"Those two were also accompanied by comprehensive efforts, starting from ground and air handling, including weather modification technology (TMC) as well. In Jambi, TMC was focused on the burning point while projecting the wind direction and speed to direct the potential distribution of clouds at the right location," he explained.

Nurofid also realized that air conditions in Jambi Province are closely influenced by the air conditions in its neighboring province, namely South Sumatra.

However, the efforts made by Jambi Province are considered to be comprehensive and will be formulated into a program, he stated.

"If everything goes according to plan, especially with the annual pattern of the El Nino phenomenon in four to five years, we are ready to formulate steps taken by Jambi Province and implement it. Hopefully, we can reduce the land and forest fire cases in the coming years," he revealed.

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Translator: Moch Mardiansyah A A, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Sri Haryati
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