The Ministry of Forestry will reduce the number of hotspots by 20 percent per year in the next five years.

Head of the forestry information center of the forestry ministry Mashyud said in Jakarta Monday the project is one of the agendas of the new Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan for the next five years.

“The project will be synchronized with a strategic program of the forestry ministry for the 2009-2014 period,” Mashyud said.

He said in the last five years the forestry ministry had already been trying to deal with forest fires optimally, and the ministry managed to reduce the fires from thousands of hotspots in 2005 to only tens of them in 2007.

Mashyud also said that actually land and forest fires were not the sole responsibility of the forestry ministry, but of many other circles, including the regional administrations, as well.

“Until last year, the fires did not only rage within the forests, but outside as well. In fact only 30 percent of the fires ranged in forested land, and 70 percent outside the forests, so that actually not all the fires are the responsibility of the forestry ministry,” he said.

Nevertheless, Masyhud said, the forestry ministry has also been helping other sides put out forest fires outside forested land.

Besides dealing with fires, Masyhud said the forestry ministry has also been stepping up the rehabilitaiton of 500,000 hectares of land per year in the next five years, in relation to reducing land degradation rate from 1.08 million ha to 900.000 ha per year, he said.

In the meantime, the foresty minister has also reminded all the parties responsible for fires to increase control and supervision, and reduce air and water pollution, as well as emission control.

“Starting next year, the forestry ministry will also establish synergy with others in putting a halt to environmental damage of 11 disaster-prone river basins,” he said.

Source: Antara