Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has appealed to farmers and the society, at large, in Aceh to help prevent potential wildfires during the peak dry season by avoiding slash-and-burn agricultural practices.”This month (August), several regions of Aceh Province experience the peak dry season,” Betsi, a climatologist at the BMKG-Sultan Iskandar Muda Office, stated here, Thursday (August 10). Regions in Aceh that still experience the peak dry season include the northern part of Central Aceh, western part of East Aceh, southern part of North Aceh, Bener Meriah, southern part of Bireuen, eastern part of Pidie, and eastern part of Pidie Jaya. Due to this condition, Betsi called on locals to be watchful of the danger of burning garbage carelessly and to avoid the slash-and-burn agricultural practices, as they could trigger wildfires. NTARA reported earlier that the BMKG had projected that this year’s dry season would follow the same pattern as the one observed in 2019. total of 28 percent of regions in Indonesia, which include 194 seasonal zones (ZOM) determined by the BMKG, were expected to experience the dry season from June this year. BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati stated that the El Nino phenomenon, which is getting stronger due to the positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), could trigger a drought during the dry season in Indonesia. s revealed by the past experiences of wildfire prevention efforts, ANTARA reported that several parts of Indonesia have repeatedly experienced wildfires as a result of the slash-and-burn agricultural practices. The smog produced by land and forest fires poses a problem for neighboring countries, as it potentially threatens people’s health and aviation activities. NTARA noted that in 2019, for instance, forest fires had ravaged almost 16 thousand square kilometers of land, mostly on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. In 2015, the fires blazed through 26 thousand kilometers of land, thereby resulting in one of the worst haze episodes in the country’s history.

Source: Antara News Agency