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Sebangau at Risk: Local Fire Attack Force Called to Arms

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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.

CIMTROP’s Community Patrol Team and members of OuTrop’s research staff fighting the flames this month. Photo by Joana Aragay/OuTrop
 
In response, CIMTROP Community Patrol Team’s Fire Attack Force has been mobilised to patrol for, detect and fight fires threatening the Sebangau National Park forest. The team has already fought and successfully extinguished three fires occurring less than 2 km from our main research camp. One fire threatened to burn the access railway to camp and unfortunately damaged one of the community fish ponds (bejes) due to be harvested this year. Fortunately, with help from our research staff, the Community Patrol Team were able to bring the fire under control within a few hours, preventing further damage. It remains to be seen if this will affect the beje harvests.  
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. 





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