What do you know about Indonesia forest fires?

Indonesia is currently in the throes of the so-called fire season, which coincides with the driest months of the year. Vast tracts of forest in Brazil, Russia and Africa have also been burning. A haze has spread to Malaysia, Singapore, the south of Thailand and the Philippines, causing a significant deterioration in air quality.

Using satellite data, more than 35,000 fires have been detected so far this year, according to Dr Tadas Nikonovas, a geographer at Swansea University. But this is substantially fewer than many other years including those, such as 2015, exacerbated by the El Nino effect which brought unusually dry weather.

In Indonesia, peatland is set alight by corporations and small-scale farmers to clear land for palm oil, pulp and paper plantations, and can spread into protected forested areas. The problem has accelerated in recent years as more land has been cleared for expanding plantations for the lucrative palm oil trade. Old palm trees on plantations that no longer bear fruit are often set on fire to be replaced by younger ones.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-49515462

From what we learned in class during the module on social health geography and landscapes of pain, it is important to protect our environment. People are sufferings in Indonesia due to the face that corporations are clear cutting, and during a dry season, the area can easily light on fire and spread rapidly. By not protecting the land, major environmental impacts create lack of basic necessities for humans. These natural disasters cause shortages of food and water and even loss in productivity of farms and agriculture. 

#GEOG203#SOCIAL