Forest Fires in Sumatra

Up to Friday, May 29, 2009, sixty three hot spot were identified in Sumatra island. Most of them were occurred in Riau, Bengkulu, South Sumatra and Jambi province. The authority said that the number had been decreasing, two days before they identify as much as 350 hot spot. The smoke reduce the viewing distance, but haven't reach the limit to affect air traffic.

The islands of Sumatra and Borneo have been repeatedly affected by forest fires. As it happened in 1997 and 2004 when forest fires on Indonesian islands disrupted flights at the Sumatran city of Pekanbaru and blanketed neighboring Singapore and Malaysia with smog for months.

Some of the fires are caused by lightning strikes, but many have been blamed local farmer and plantation firm practice burning off of farm land and forest clearance. Despite a government ban on burning forests for land, the practice has continued unabated.

Picture : An aerial view of a forest fire in Dumai in Indonesia's Riau province February 26, 2008 (Source : Daylife)