BUSINESS

Burned areas in Sumatra’s LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes close to zero
December 21, 2020

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JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Using data on forest and land fires from January-October 2020 from Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry as an official reference, very few burned areas have been found in LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes across three peat rich provinces in Sumatra this year, amounting to a mere 0.24% of the total peat dome areas.

Just over two thousand hectares were burned out of the total LiDAR mapping-identified peat dome areas of 971,090 hectares, equal to more than 13 times the size of Singapore, accounting for the near zero percentage. 

The LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes in question lie within 17 peat hydrological units (KHGs) with a total area of nearly 4.4 million hectares, an area equal to around 60 times the size of Singapore, distributed over the provinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra.

As such, 22.09% of the almost 4.4 million hectares of KHGs consists of LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes.

In the KHGs, pulpwood concessions are quite prominently distributed. In Riau, the KHGs include the supply chains of the two pulp and paper giants APP and APRIL. Meanwhile, the KHGs in Jambi and South Sumatra are mostly linked to the supply chains of APP. 

The spatial information regarding the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes was obtained from the peat mapping exercises conducted by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) in collaboration with Deltares which were funded by APP, UKCCU and NORAD.

The following graphs show the extent and percentage of the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes in the three Sumatra’s provinces that were burned and not burned from January-October 2020. 



Last year, the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes in the three provinces which were burned stood at the slightly higher, albeit still relatively insignificant, level of 2.1%. 

Not an ordinary miracle

In addition to the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes, where the level of burned areas was close to 0% in the three Sumatran provinces, there was also a hugely significant decrease in the level of forest and land fires nationwide this year compared to last year.

In early September this year, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 4), Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya revealed this sharp fall in forest and land fires in the country, including in Sumatra.

This fantastic progress continued until mid-September 2020, when the decline in potential fire spots remained above 90% compared to the same period last year, as covered by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 15)

By the end of September 2020, the decrease in the distribution of potential fire spots was even more impressive, reaching a level of nearly 92% compared to the same period last year.

This defied the predictions of many parties of a double-disaster – haze-causing fires exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak - as also reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 30).

In fact, by mid-October 2020, confidence about avoiding the much-predicted double disaster was higher than ever, considering that the drop in distribution of potential fire spots still hovered at a level above 90%, as pointed out in a FORESTHINTS.NEWS story at the time (Oct 15).

The decline in the level of potential fire spots to above 90% compared to last year, along with the fact that only 0.24% of LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes have been burned, will ensure that there is no transboundary haze this year.

The miraculous achievement of getting rid of the transboundary haze during the ongoing global pandemic was enabled through dedicated efforts on the ground backed up by clear budget power.


TAGS: PEAT DOMES , PEAT FIRES , LIDAR

RELATED STORIES


BUSINESS

Burned areas in Sumatra’s LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes close to zero
December 21, 2020

facebookfinal.png wafinal.png twitterfinal.png emailfinal.png

JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Using data on forest and land fires from January-October 2020 from Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry as an official reference, very few burned areas have been found in LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes across three peat rich provinces in Sumatra this year, amounting to a mere 0.24% of the total peat dome areas.

Just over two thousand hectares were burned out of the total LiDAR mapping-identified peat dome areas of 971,090 hectares, equal to more than 13 times the size of Singapore, accounting for the near zero percentage. 

The LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes in question lie within 17 peat hydrological units (KHGs) with a total area of nearly 4.4 million hectares, an area equal to around 60 times the size of Singapore, distributed over the provinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra.

As such, 22.09% of the almost 4.4 million hectares of KHGs consists of LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes.

In the KHGs, pulpwood concessions are quite prominently distributed. In Riau, the KHGs include the supply chains of the two pulp and paper giants APP and APRIL. Meanwhile, the KHGs in Jambi and South Sumatra are mostly linked to the supply chains of APP. 

The spatial information regarding the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes was obtained from the peat mapping exercises conducted by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) in collaboration with Deltares which were funded by APP, UKCCU and NORAD.

The following graphs show the extent and percentage of the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes in the three Sumatra’s provinces that were burned and not burned from January-October 2020. 



Last year, the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes in the three provinces which were burned stood at the slightly higher, albeit still relatively insignificant, level of 2.1%. 

Not an ordinary miracle

In addition to the LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes, where the level of burned areas was close to 0% in the three Sumatran provinces, there was also a hugely significant decrease in the level of forest and land fires nationwide this year compared to last year.

In early September this year, as reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 4), Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya revealed this sharp fall in forest and land fires in the country, including in Sumatra.

This fantastic progress continued until mid-September 2020, when the decline in potential fire spots remained above 90% compared to the same period last year, as covered by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 15)

By the end of September 2020, the decrease in the distribution of potential fire spots was even more impressive, reaching a level of nearly 92% compared to the same period last year.

This defied the predictions of many parties of a double-disaster – haze-causing fires exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak - as also reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Sep 30).

In fact, by mid-October 2020, confidence about avoiding the much-predicted double disaster was higher than ever, considering that the drop in distribution of potential fire spots still hovered at a level above 90%, as pointed out in a FORESTHINTS.NEWS story at the time (Oct 15).

The decline in the level of potential fire spots to above 90% compared to last year, along with the fact that only 0.24% of LiDAR mapping-identified peat domes have been burned, will ensure that there is no transboundary haze this year.

The miraculous achievement of getting rid of the transboundary haze during the ongoing global pandemic was enabled through dedicated efforts on the ground backed up by clear budget power.


TAGS: PEAT DOMES , PEAT FIRES , LIDAR

RELATED STORIES