Interactive Map Launched to Spot Potential Fires in Indonesia’s Forests
Jakarta. The World Resources Institute’s global forest monitoring network, Global Forest Watch (GFW), has launched a new tool that can spot potential forest fires as the dry season draws nearer in Indonesia.
The Fire Risk Map, launched last Thursday (07/07), will help authorities prevent fires before they spread to forests in Indonesia and Malaysia — the cause of last year’s haze emergency.
“We hope the Fire Risk Map will help government officials and land managers to be more proactive about fires,” Susan Minnemeyer, a forest fire expert at GFW, told Thomson Reuters Foundation on Tuesday (12/07).
According to Susan, the Fire Risk Map is updated daily to calculate fire risks using satellite-based data on temperature, humidity and rainfall. It can also estimate the wetness or dryness of forest litter.
Dry forest litter indicates a higher risk of forest fires, as it easily catches fire and spreads it.
“It is cheaper to prevent fires than to react to them,” Susan said in a statement.
The map was developed with help from the environmental group Conservation International and is based on the U.S. Forest Service’s Fire Danger Rating System.
Tags: Keywords: