With a strong El Niño event underway and expected to continue into 2016, the dry season has really taken hold now in Central Kalimantan, and the inevitable peat fires are now raging throughout the region. Haze from these fires has been shrouding the provincial capital of Palangka Raya for the last month. Flights are being cancelled and air pollutant levels are now considered hazardous in the city, posing a serious risk to public health.
Starting last month in the highly drained and degraded ex-Mega Rice Project, including around the Kalampangan Zone research site (managed by our local partners CIMTROP), the increasingly dry conditions have now created heightened fire risk throughout the entire Sebangau region. This includes fires spotted along the Sebangau River edge. These fires pose a serious threat to the world’s largest orangutan population in Sebangau National Park, plus the huge number of other wildlife species that live in the forest.
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| CIMTROP’s Community Patrol Team and members of OuTrop’s research staff fighting the flames this month. Photo by Joana Aragay/OuTrop |
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| Quick action by CIMTROP’s Community Patrol Team has stopped the spread of fires in Sebangau National Park. Photo by Joana Aragay/OuTrop |
The forecasted strong El Niño throughout the northern hemisphere winter means that conditions are expected to deteriorate even further over the coming months, with the Community Patrol Team needing to stay on high alert to protect the forest from destruction by fire. We thank all of our Project supporters for helping fight this threat and the Community Patrol Team for their brave efforts.
You can help support the efforts of the Community Patrol Team here.
