Malaysia establishes monitoring and warning system to predict level of fire risk for South-east Asia
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Forest fires, however, may pose bigger challenges to put out, as forests are more isolated and difficult to access.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SINGAPORE - An early warning monitoring and fire prevention system has been set up by Malaysia for its Asean neighbours, in a bid to reduce hot spots as the warmer El Nino weather phenomenon looms
The Fire Danger Rating System, or FDRS, is able to assess the risk of fires and predict fire behaviour for up to seven days in advance. This information is used to assist in fire management.
The system utilises satellite data that can differentiate if heat comes from an industrial area, an oil and gas well or burning vegetation, as well as data on weather, temperature, and hot spots from 459 Asean weather stations from the Global Telecommunication System, said Malaysian Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Speaking to The Straits Times after a two-day meeting with representatives from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand on Thursday, Mr Nik Nazmi also said that a new road map on Asean cooperation for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control has been drafted.
He said a webinar in mid-June will seek to gather feedback from the public before the road map is finalised by the Conference of the Parties to the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, to be held in Laos in August.
The meeting among senior officials overseeing environmental protection among the five countries, commonly known as southern Asean, which share similar weather patterns, will not cease.
“We feel that we need to have the sub-regional meeting. So there’s more focus to all that happens in between, because if we just go to the general Asean meeting, then whatever happens in southern Asean will not be prominently discussed,” said Mr Nik Nazmi.
The meeting on Thursday also took stock of the progress made by the five countries in curbing the haze.
Mr Nik Nazmi noted that Malaysia has invested in water infrastructure, including storage and dams in drains to retain water in the event of a fire.
It has also invested in watchtowers to look out for fires on agricultural land. Forest fires, however, may pose bigger challenges, he noted.
“Forests are usually more isolated and difficult to access. It’s not like agricultural lands, where there are usually more roads.”
Both Mr Nik Nazmi and Singapore’s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu noted that the region has been relatively haze-free in the past few years. This has been partly due to favourable weather conditions influenced by La Nina, which generally brings heavier rainfall to South-east Asia.
At the 10th Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore on Friday, Ms Fu said: “We have been lucky to enjoy haze-free conditions in Singapore for the past few years, partly due to favourable weather conditions and in a very major part, to better-managed forestry and agriculture in the region.”
But the looming El Nino phenomenon is raising the possibility of drier weather.
Ms Fu noted that the announcement by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre of the dry season for the southern Asean region had been made much earlier compared to previous years.
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He was in Singapore for Ecosperity Week, Temasek’s sustainability conference involving global business leaders, policymakers, investors and civil society from the region.
